The Book of Grasses 



anthers, borne on long filaments, increase the apparent size of the 

 heads by encircling them in filmy lavender. 



The stalks, in rich soil, are sometimes five feet tall, with blos- 

 soming heads six to ten inches in length, but in dry places the plant 

 is much smaller, and by developing bulbous thickenings of stored- 

 up nutriment at the bases of the stems it is enabled to survive 

 periods of drouth. Leaf-smut occasionally attacks this grass and 

 reduces the leaves to shreds covered with dusty brown spores. 



A few of the flowering-heads of aftermath develop leaves from 

 the tips of the scales and cover the spikes with tiny green blades, 

 as if to shield the unripened seed from early frosts. 



The common name of Timothy preserves that of its earliest 

 cultivator, Timothy Hanson, a Maryland planter of the early days 

 of the eighteenth century. He must have been a genial man, 

 proving himself friendly, or we should have had Hanson Grass 

 instead of Timothy, although the more local name of Herd's Grass 

 need be considered no reproach to the Mr. Herd who cultivated it 

 in New Hampshire long ago. 



Timothy. Herd's Grass. Cat's-tail Grass. Phleum pra- 

 iense L. 



Perennial. 



Stem 1-5 ft. tali, erect, not branched. Ligule i"-2" long. Leaves 

 3'- 1 2' long, 2"-4" wide, flat, rough or nearly smooth. 



Spike (spike-like panicle) I'-y' long, cylindrical, green, densely flowered, 

 3"-4^" in diameter. Spikelets 1 -flowered, flat, about 1-2" long. 

 Scales 3; outer scales compressed, about equal, hairy on keels, abrupt- 

 ly awn-pointed; flowering scale thin and translucent, truncate, much 

 shorter than outer scales. Stamens 3, anthers usually lavender. 

 Stigmas white. 



Meadows, fields, and waysides. June to August. 



Throughout nearlv the whole of North America. 



^5' 



MEADOW FOXTAIL AND MARSH FOXTAIL 



The resemblance that Meadow Foxtail bears to Timothy might 

 be confusing were it not that the former, being one of the first 

 grasses to mature its seed, begins to bloom a month before the green 

 spikes of Timothy appear. The whole plant is more soft than is 

 Timothy, the leaves shorter and borne on somewhat inflated 

 sheaths, and the spikes are slightly softer, broader, and shorter 

 than are the stiff, rough heads of the later-flowering grass. Meadow 



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