Timothy

Timothy - Phleum pratense

Description

A tall grass to 150 cm, with dense cylindrical panicles to 15 cm (sometimes more). The individual spikelets have two points. Named after American farmer and agriculturalist Timothy Hanson

Similar Species

Meadow Foxtail is superficially similar

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Inflorescence a ‘pointing finger’ spike. The two glumes of each floret each narrow to a pointed apex.

Habitat

Roadsides, meadows, and other grasslands.

When to see it

June to August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Common throughout Britain.

VC55 Status

Very common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 578 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records

Photo of the association

Ergot

Ergot (Claviceps purpurea) is a violet-black spindle-shaped structure longitudinally furrowed, up to 1cm long, and formed in the inflorescences of grasses. The fungal body is described as an ergot kernel.

Photo of the association

Choke

Epichloe typhina fungus galls the stems of various grasses, the gall often having a rather tubular appearance. It is white in the early stages, yellowing when mature. On various grasses including many of our most common species including Sweet Vernal-grass, False Oat-grass, Cock's-foot, Perennial Rye-grass, Wood Millet, Timothy and Rough Meadow-grass.