Garlic Mustard

Garlic Mustard

[Alliaria petiolata (Bieb.) Cavara & Grande]

Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

seedlings ▲ ▼

young plants ▲ ▼

flowering plants ▲ ▼

flowers and seeds ▲ ▼

▲ senescing/drying plants

▲ dried fruit

▲ ▼ large colonies (toward top of hill in lower photo) near Minneapolis, MN

Garlic Mustard:

new weed in Southwest Missouri, spreading rapidly
biennial or winter annual weed, germinating in late fall to late winter, flowering in mid to late spring and dying by summer
first year rosette leaves are dark green and kidney shaped with scalloped edges and 2-3" in diameter
flowering stem-leaves are alternate, sharply toothed, and triangular in shape
leaves produce a distinct garlic odor when crushed, although mature plants have less odor.
flowers are white in clusters at the top of the plant
reproduces very rapidly by seed, rapidly replacing native plants
found in moist, fertile soils, wetland areas, open woodlands and savannahs