r\ 
V \ 
176 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXI. No. 3 
A careful examination of the scattering timothy plants that appear in 
a field where a timothy sod has been plowed under leads to the conclusion 
that many if not most of them have not come from seed directly but 
have been produced vegetatively from the buried stubble or culms. This 
fact is important agronomically, especially when it is desired to grow 
pure strains of timothy for seed on the sod of a former timothy crop. 
So far as the writers have been able to find, these two types of under¬ 
ground stems, both rooting or at least both capable of producing roots, 
are the only types of underground stems produced in timothy. 
ABOVE-GROUND ROOTING STEMS 
Rooting stems sometimes develop above ground, but they have rarely 
been observed at the Timothy Breeding Station. They are apparently 
formed when weak or decumbent stems come in contact with the soil. 
Such a stem is shown in Plate 40, B. 
Regarding above-ground rooting stems, Witte 1 says (in translation): 
However, in a few cases of dwarf varieties I have noticed that the tufts were less 
firm, which in turn is due to the fact that the shoots grow out from the axils of the 
leaves situated higher up on the culm, as, for instance, from the second or third inter¬ 
node above the swollen one. Because in the case of certain varieties at least the lower 
part of the culm rests on the ground, these shoots easily take root, and in this way we 
get, as it were, a system of surface runners. 
Since the rooting stems that form above ground are apparently but 
incidentally associated with a decumbent habit of growth, it is very 
doubtful if they should be regarded as a varietal or strain characteristic. 
Witte, however, has so regarded them. Ascherson and Graebner 2 have 
named and described a variety stoloniferum , but from their description it 
is not clear whether their variety includes plants with rooting stems 
above or below ground, or both. European literature contains so many 
references to rooting stems in timothy that it is probable there may be 
forms in Europe which are not found or are at least are not common in this 
country. On page 36 of his “Om Timotejen,” 1 Witte figures a very 
spreading, short-culmed plant which closely resembles one or more of 
the forms regarded by some botanists as distinct species of Phleum, which 
are characterized in general by a decumbent, spreading habit of growth. 
The influence of these species or forms on timothy may explain why 
above-ground rooting stems are mentioned so frequently by European 
botanists and agriculturists. It is quite evident to the writers that 
underground stems are in no sense a varietal characteristic, since they 
can be induced without difficulty. 
1 Witts, Hemfrid. om timotejen, dess historia, odung och formrikedom samt om foradlings- 
arbbtbna MSD DBTTA VAU.GRAS pA. svalOf. In Sveriges UtsSdesfor. Tidskr., Argang 25, Hafte 1, 
p. 23-44; Hafte 4, p. 143-182; HSfte 5, p. 199-230, 24 fig. 1915. R£sum£ in German, p. 222-230. Biblio¬ 
graphical footnotes. 
* Aschsrson, Paul, and Grasbnsr, Paul, synopsis der mitteleuropaischbn flora. Bd. 2, Abt. 1. 
p. 143. Leipzig. 1898-1902. 
