Though not native to North America, timothy grass is the most important commercial perennial grass grown in the United States. It is cultivated widely for use as hay and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year.

Sometimes referred to as herd’s grass, timothy typically grows about three feet high and features non-branching panicles, or clusters of flowers. Each dense panicle is about 2 to 3 inches long and cylindrical in shape. The stems of timothy grass generally grow in large tufts and exhibit distended, bulb-like bases. The vascular plants also tend to shed large amounts of pollen and primarily pollinate in the morning hours of late spring or early summer, depending on geographical location.

Over 9,000 species of grass are currently in existence and only a small percentage of those are known to cause allergic reactions in humans. Included in the allergy-causing grasses is timothy, which contains a protein called PHL P II in its pollen grains. PHL P II is one of the world’s major plant allergens and, until recently, the only method for its control has been antihistamine medications. Scientists are, however, currently attempting to create a synthetic hypoallergenic vaccine that would provide easy, ongoing relief for many of those that suffer from pollen allergies.

BACK TO THE DIC IMAGE GALLERY

Questions or comments? Send us an email.

© 1998-2022 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.

This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Last modification: Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 01:19 PM

Access Count Since April 22, 2003: 27057

For more information on microscope manufacturers,
use the buttons below to navigate to their websites: