page_title: Timothy-grass
section_title: Confusion with other species
hierarchical_section_title: Timothy-grass / Confusion with other species
caption_attribution_description: English: magnified seeds of phleum pratense
context_page_description: Timothy grass is an abundant perennial grass native to most of Europe except for the Mediterranean region. It is also known simply as timothy, meadow cat's-tail or common cat's tail. It is a member of the genus Phleum, consisting of about 15 species of annual and perennial grasses.
  It is probably named after Timothy Hanson, an American farmer and agriculturalist said to have introduced it from New England to the southern states in the early 18th century. Upon his recommendation it became a major source of hay and cattle fodder to British farmers in the mid-18th century.
  Timothy grass can be confused with meadow foxtail or purple-stem cat's-tail.
context_section_description: It is often confused with meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis). Timothy flowers later, from June until August, whereas meadow foxtail flowers from April until June. The spikelets of timothy are twin hornlike projections arranged in cylindrical panicles, whereas foxtail has a soft, single awn. 
  Purple-stem cat's-tail (Phleum phleoides) prefers lighter soils and grows on chalk downland.
  Mountain timothy (Phleum alpinum) grows above 6,000 feet. A "wild Timothy" was found to grow in Yosemite at the time of its discovery but may have been a foxtail.
  Timothy canary grass (Phalaris angusta), another species with a similar cylindrical panicle, is toxic to livestock.
caption: Seeds
exif: {}