Phleum bertolonii (smaller cat's-tail) is a species of perennial grass native to most of Europe, southwestern Asia, and northwestern Africa. It is a member of the genus Phleum, which consists of 17 species of annual and perennial grasses.
Phleum bertolonii grows to tall, rarely tall, with leaves broad. The leaves have short, narrow, acute-tipped ligules.
The flowerhead is up to long and broad, with densely packed spikelets, the glumes with a 0.2âÂÂ1.2 mm long awn. It flowers from June until August.
It has often been confused with Timothy (Phleum pratense); this is most easily distinguished by its broad, blunt ligules, and is a much larger plant, growing to 150 cm, 2âÂÂ3 times as tall as P. bertolonii and with flowerheads twice as long.
In the past, it was often considered a subspecies of Phleum pratense, as Phleum pratense subsp. bertolonii, but is now generally considered to be a separate species.