ROOTING STEMS IN TIMOTHY 
By R. A. Oakuey, Agronomist, and Morgan W. Evans, Assistant Agronomist, 
Office of Forage-Crop Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture 
INTRODUCTION 
In botanical and agricultural literature there are many references to 
stolons and rootstocks or rhizomes in timothy. However, the state¬ 
ments made and the terms employed are so confused that it is scarcely 
possible to determine in any case the specific nature of the phenomenon 
that occurs. It is by no means clear whether rooting stems above 
or below ground are referred to; neither is it clear to what extent and 
under what conditions such stems are actually formed. Some writers 
have concluded that stolons and rootstocks are varietal characteristics, 
while others indicate that they are very generally found in timothy. 
No effort has been made by the writers to find the first mention of stolons 
or rhizomes in the literature on timothy, but apparently they were not 
mentioned by botanists or agronomists prior to the time of Linnaeus. 
In the literature of the nineteenth century, however, there are many 
references, principally to what are termed stolons; but no detailed 
information is given regarding them, and consequently there is a very 
general lack of knowledge of just what they really are, or as a matter of 
fact that they actually exist. 
In connection with their timothy breeding investigations, the writers 
have had the opportunity to study the timothy plant closely, and they 
have devoted some attentipn to the rooting stems, which it sometimes 
produces. The results of these studies it is hoped will clear up the 
subject somewhat. Most of the data upon which this paper is based 
were obtained at the Timothy Breeding Station, which is conducted 
cooperatively by the United States Department of Agriculture and the 
Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, at Elyria, Ohio. 
TWO KINDS OF UNDERGROUND ROOTING STEMS 
In June, 1918, some timothy plants were found growing in a field 
where timothy stubble had been plowed under the previous fall. These 
plants on casual observation had the appearance of plants which had 
grown from seed, but a close examination disclosed the fact that many 
of them were attached by underground stems to the stubble of the old 
plants that were turned under. The finding of these underground 
stems led to further search for plants possessing them and to critical 
studies regarding their formation. Abundant material was available 
at the station in the fall of 1918 and in the summer and fall of 1919 in 
Journal of Agricultural Research, 
Washington, D. C. 
Vol. XXI, No. 3 
May 2,1921 
