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Part of the book series: Handbook of Plant Breeding ((HBPB,volume 5))

Abstract

Timothy (Phleum pratense L.), sometimes also called Herd’s grass and/or cat’s tail, is known as a cool-season perennial forage grass in North and South Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and east Asia. In the EU, timothy ranks third in the certified seed area of forage grasses, after perennial (Lolium perenne L.) and Italian ryegrasses (Lolium multiflorum L.). It is considered the most important grass in parts of Canada, USA, the Nordic countries of Europe and Hokkaido, the northernmost Japanese prefecture (Berg et al., 1996; Helgadottir and Sveinsson, 2006; McElory and Kunelius, 1995). The amount of timothy seeds sold in eastern Canada is twice as much as that of all other grasses (McElory and Kunelius, 1995), and timothy occupies more than 70% of total grassland in Hokkaido (Tamaki, 2005).

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Tamaki, H., Baert, J., Marum, P. (2010). Timothy. In: Boller, B., Posselt, U.K., Veronesi, F. (eds) Fodder Crops and Amenity Grasses. Handbook of Plant Breeding, vol 5. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0760-8_14

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