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GRASSES OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Heather Stewart, Richard Hebda Major Groups of Grasses Table of Contents Glossary Phleum Timothy There are about ten species of Timothy and all but one, Phleum alpinum, are Eurasian. The name Phleum is based on the Greek word phleos, the name given to a reedy grass. Phleum Adapted from. Douglas et al. 1994 1a. Flowerhead a short wide cylinder (1-4.5 cm long); stem not bulbous at the base.................................................................................................Phleum alpinum 1b. Flowerhead a long narrow cylinder (4.5-13 cm long); stem bulbous at the base................................................................................................Phleum pratense   Phleum alpinum L. Alpine Timothy Plant: Phleum alpinum is a native species that grows to 15-50 cm tall. It is a strongly tufted perennial, with stems that creep along the ground and appear rhizomelike. The flowerhead is 1-4.5 cm long, cylinderlike and more than 1 cm wide when pressed. Leaves and Stem: The stem does not have a bulbous base and often appears to bend and creep along the ground. The smooth, open sheaths often have small, rounded auricles. The ligules are 1-3 mm, blunt and somewhat smooth along the upper edge. The flat leaf blades reach 4-7 mm wide and are rough along the margins. Flowerhead and Flowers: The flowerhead is 1-4.5 cm long, globular to cylinderlike and more than 1 cm wide when pressed. The glumes have stiff hairs along the keels and are hairy along the sides. The glumes are longer than the single flower they enclose. The glumes have a somewhat distinctive rectangular body that tapers into a thick awn that is 1.5-2.5 mm long. The lemma is very short-haired and has a blunt tip that is ragged. Habitat: Alpine Timothy grows in moist meadows and along streambanks from the montane to alpine zone. In the Columbia Basin it occurs at a large number of locations, such as the Selkirk Range, Deadman's Pass, Yoho National Park, Meadow Mountain, Big White Mountain, Mount Broadwood and Grizzly Mountain, to name a few. Similar Species: Alpine Timothy is similar to Common Timothy, but it differs by its lack of a stem with a bulbous base. The flowerhead of Alpine Timothy consists of a short cylinder rather than a slender, long cylinder. Phleum pratense L. Common Timothy Plant: Phleum pratense is an introduced species that grows to 1 m tall. It is a clump-forming perennial with characteristic long cylindrical, spikelike, somewhat purplish to silvery flowerheads on wiry stems. Leaves and Stem: The slightly bulbous stem bases arise from a fibrous root mass. The stem often bends at the lower nodes. Sheaths are open with edges inrolled. Leaf blades are 4-10 mm wide, flat and tapering. The leaf blades on the mid- to upper-flowering stem are much shorter (3-10 cm long) than the sheaths. Auricles are absent or tiny, but ligules are well developed, 2-3 mm long, and easy to see with a hand lens. Flowerhead and Flowers: The small, flattened spikelets are packed tightly into the 4.5-13-cm-long unbranched flowerhead. Two equal, flattened, keeled glumes, often with dark purple nerves, enclose a single small flower. Long hairs line the keel of the glume, which extends into a short awn from the flattened top. The lemma is thin and membranelike and its midvein extends slightly beyond the tip and resembles a short bristle. Habitat: Common Timothy is widespread in fields, meadows and roadsides. It is sown in pastures for forage and used in some reclamation mixtures. Timothy is distinct among our grasses and not likely to be confused with other species at low elevation.

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