Mustard Root Alliaria petiolata

Garlic mustard is an herbaceous, biennial, flowering plant in the mustard (Brassicaceae) family.  It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, and Africa and was introduced to North America as a culinary herb in 1860. It has become invasive in many states in the USA as the rhizomatous roots and underground stems send roots and shoots along their length. In the wild, it is often found in damp hedgerows, edges of woods and other shady places. In the landscape, Garlic Mustard tends to crowd out the native wildflowers that bloom during the spring. Controls include pulling the plants by their roots and spraying the foliage with herbicides. Cutting the flowering stalks from their stems is not adequate because Garlic Mustard regenerates new stalks and mature seeds can develop from any cut stalks left on the ground.

Garlic mustard prefers partial sun to medium shade, moist to mesic conditions, and loamy fertile soil. In the first year of growth, plants form clumps of round to heart-shaped (4 to 6 inches (10-15 cm) long and 2 to 4 1/2 inches (5-9 cm) wide), coarsely toothed leaves.  The next year plants flower in the spring, producing button-like clusters of cross-shaped white flowers with four petals. The fruit is a four-sided elongated pod (4 inches (4-5.5 cm) long).  It starts out green and matures to gray-brown.  Inside are two rows of shiny black seeds which are released when the pod splits open mid-summer.   A single plant can produce hundreds of seeds, which scatter as much as several meters from the parent plant. Crushed leaves smell like garlic.

Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known disease or pest issues. Listed as invasive by the NC Invasive Plant Council and several other states as well.