OregonFlora: Phleum alpinum vs. Phleum pratense

	Phleum alpinum	Phleum pratense
	alpine timothy	timothy
Habit	Plants perennial, 15–50 cm tall, cespitose or short-rhizomatous.	Plants perennial, (20)50–150 cm tall, loosely to densely cespitose.
Culms	with lower internodes not enlarged or bulbous.	with lower internodes often enlarged or bulbous.
Leaves	sheaths of uppermost culm leaves inflated; blades flat; to 17 cm × 4–7 mm.	sheaths of uppermost culm leaves not inflated; blades flat; to 45 cm × 4–8(10)mm, glabrous.
Inflorescences	ovoid, lanceolate, or oblong, 1.5–3 times as long as wide, 1–6 cm × 5–12 mm.	cylindric, 5–20 times as long as wide; (3)5–10(16)cm × 5–7.5(10) mm.
Glumes	2.5–4.5 mm, 3-veined; sides scabrous; keels with spreading hairs; tips awned; awns 1.5– 2.5(3.2) mm.	3–4 mm, 3-veined; sides usually puberulent; keels with spreading hairs; tips awned; awns 1–2 mm.
Lemmas	1.7–2.5 mm, 5–7-veined, mostly glabrous; keels with spreading hairs; tips acute; awnless.	1.2–2 mm with 5–7 veins, membranous, usually puberulent; tips acute; awnless.
Anthers	1–2 mm.	1.6– 2.3 mm.
2n	=14, 28.	=14, 28, 42.

	Phleum alpinum	Phleum pratense
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Moist mountain meadows, streamsides, coastal headlands. 50–2800m. BR, BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Est, Sisk. CA, ID, NV, WA; western and northern North America; South America, circumboreal. Native. Phleum alpinum is a small grass with a dense, spike-like inflorescence and inflated sheaths on the uppermost leaf. Phleum pratense is a taller grass with longer inflorescences and less distinctly inflated sheaths. It usually grows at lower elevations, though there is an overlap in range.	Old fields, pastures, rangelands, and disturbed sites. 0–2300m. BR, BW, Casc, Col, CR, ECas, Lava, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, NV, WA; throughout North America; temperate regions worldwide. Exotic. Phleum pratense is a common grass with a dense, spike-like inflorescence. It is similar to Alopecurus pratensis, a plant of generally wetter habitats, which has a softer inflorescence with tapered, awnless glumes. In Alopecurus, the spikelets disarticulate from the inflorescence axis when mature; those of P. pratense are persistent on the plant well into the fall.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 446 Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 446 Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Sibling taxa	P. arenarium, P. paniculatum, P. pratense, P. subulatum	P. alpinum, P. arenarium, P. paniculatum, P. subulatum
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Phleum pratense

alpine timothy

timothy

Habit

Plants perennial, 15–50 cm tall, cespitose or short-rhizomatous.

Plants perennial, (20)50–150 cm tall, loosely to densely cespitose.

Culms

with lower internodes not enlarged or bulbous.

with lower internodes often enlarged or bulbous.

Leaves

sheaths of uppermost culm leaves inflated;

blades flat; to 17 cm × 4–7 mm.

sheaths of uppermost culm leaves not inflated;

blades flat; to 45 cm × 4–8(10)mm, glabrous.

Inflorescences

ovoid, lanceolate, or oblong, 1.5–3 times as long as wide, 1–6 cm × 5–12 mm.

cylindric, 5–20 times as long as wide; (3)5–10(16)cm × 5–7.5(10) mm.

Glumes

2.5–4.5 mm, 3-veined;

sides scabrous;

keels with spreading hairs;

tips awned; awns 1.5– 2.5(3.2) mm.

3–4 mm, 3-veined;

sides usually puberulent;

keels with spreading hairs;

tips awned; awns 1–2 mm.

Lemmas

1.7–2.5 mm, 5–7-veined, mostly glabrous;

keels with spreading hairs;

tips acute; awnless.

1.2–2 mm with 5–7 veins, membranous, usually puberulent;

tips acute; awnless.

Anthers

1–2 mm.

1.6– 2.3 mm.

=14, 28.

=14, 28, 42.

Phleum pratense

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Moist mountain meadows, streamsides, coastal headlands. 50–2800m. BR, BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Est, Sisk. CA, ID, NV, WA; western and northern North America; South America, circumboreal. Native.

Phleum alpinum is a small grass with a dense, spike-like inflorescence and inflated sheaths on the uppermost leaf. Phleum pratense is a taller grass with longer inflorescences and less distinctly inflated sheaths. It usually grows at lower elevations, though there is an overlap in range.

Old fields, pastures, rangelands, and disturbed sites. 0–2300m. BR, BW, Casc, Col, CR, ECas, Lava, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, NV, WA; throughout North America; temperate regions worldwide. Exotic.

Phleum pratense is a common grass with a dense, spike-like inflorescence. It is similar to Alopecurus pratensis, a plant of generally wetter habitats, which has a softer inflorescence with tapered, awnless glumes. In Alopecurus, the spikelets disarticulate from the inflorescence axis when mature; those of P. pratense are persistent on the plant well into the fall.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 446
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting

Sibling taxa

P. arenarium, P. paniculatum, P. pratense, P. subulatum

P. alpinum, P. arenarium, P. paniculatum, P. subulatum

Web links