Phleum pratense; Timothy is a common grass growing in (semi-)cultivated areas (farm lands). It is very similar to the meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis). These two species are not so closely related as their appearance may suggest. The "spikes" of the foxtail aren't spikes but condensed plumes. For the layman the two can be distinguished by the way the inflorescence departs from the stem: gradually (v-shaped from the base of the inflorescence) in the foxtail and abrupt (u-shaped at the base of the inflorescence) in timothy.
Both are member of the grass family (Poaceae, also known as Gramineae).
Text & Photographs by Dick Vuijk
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