Timothy

• Phleum pratense

Grass

Timothy is a cool-season bunch grass. It is among the best nonnative grasses for wildlife because of its bunchy growth and nonaggressive habit.

Dave Powell, USDA Forest Service, bugwood.org

Long, tight, cylindrical seed heads without long hairs are a sure clue to identifying timothy.

James R. Johnson, USDA-NRCS Plants Database

Timothy's ligule is large, white and membranous, with a notch at either side.

Rob Kallenbach and Greg Bishop-Hurley, University of Missouri
 

Description

Timothy is a cool-season bunch grass, often planted in pasture mixtures with clover or other grasses. By late spring it can be readily identified by the blue-green, cylindrical seed head resembling a small cattail. It has an elongated ligule at the base of the leaf, with a notch on each side.

Use by bobwhites

Timothy is used far less for pasture today than in the past. Where it is used, though, it offers good habitat structure. As with other bunch grasses, bobwhites readily nest in previous years' growth, and mixed stands offer good brood-rearing opportunities. Timothy matures for hay later than most cool-season grasses but may still be ready to bale during the peak hatching period; see orchard grass for management suggestions. Timothy also provides good roosting cover.