50 
erally near the bases of the older shoots. Buds and branches rarely 
appear, in the types of plants which grow in meadows in America, 
at nodes situated between the elongated internodes of the culm. A 
branch shoot may be called an innovation from the time when it 
develops from the bud up to the time when any of the internodes 
become elongated or secondary branches form on it. In ordinary 
meadows buds expand into lateral shoots in the largest numbers in 
midsummer, about the time when seeds are maturing. A shoot 
developed from a bud at this time, like one originating from a seed, 
continues its growth until the following summer, when it also may 
produce seeds, and a few weeks or months later ceases growth. In 
this manner, through vegetative reproduction, a timothy plant may 
perpetuate itself for an indefinite number of years. It differs from 
perennials like trees or shrubs, however, since each year there is a 
new set of shoots, with new roots, which do not retain a vital con- 
nection with the shoots which were growing on the plant in previous 
years. 
The axis or stem of a shoot which expands from a bud at some 
time in the summer ordinarily grows hardly half an inch in length 
during the following fall, winter, and early spring. The non- 
elongated internodes which develop on it during this period form 
the proaxis. 
Beginning about May 1, under climatic conditions similar to those 
in northern Ohio, the internodes which develop after that tinie be- 
come elongated. The lowest one, less frequently two elongated 
internodes, become enlarged in diameter also and form the 
haplocorm. Above it, the 4 to 6 or 7, most commonly 5, elongated 
cylindrical internodes form the culm. On a shoot producing a head 
the internodes of the culm continue their growth in length until 
after the florets have bloomed and until a short time before the 
seeds mature. 
The total number of internodes and also of nodes and leaves 
which develop on a shoot during the entire period of its growth 
commonly varies from about 15 to 25, though the number is fre- 
quently either below or above these limits. The number of non- 
elongated internodes in the proaxis varies in proportion to the 
length of the growing period, being considerably greater on shoots 
which begin their growth in midsummer than on those which do not 
begin growth until late in the fall or early in the following spring. 
The number of elongated internodes in the haplocorm and culm does 
not vary to more than a slight extent on shoots with heads which 
develop at the usual time in midsummer. On shoots which produce 
heads in the fall the number of internodes in the culm is more 
variable. The florets bloom and seeds mature at nearly the same 
time in midsummer, whether the shoot began its growth from a 
seed, or from a bud in the preceding summer or fall or early in the 
spring of the same season. 
During the summer or fall in any timothy meadow which has not 
been mowed during the season two distinct types of elongated shoots 
may be found in varying proportions. Those fertile shoots on 
which heads are borne which have already been described represent 
one type; the shorter shoots of the other type produce no in- 
florescences. These sterile shoots grow, and the number of inter- 
