Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Appearance: Biennial herbaceous plant with weak single stems 12 - 36" high in its second and flowering year. Only plant of this height blooming white in wooded environments in May.
Leaves: Round, scallop-edged, dark green; first year, rosettes of 3 or 4 leaves; second year plants have alternate stem leaves. Leaves and stems smell like onion or garlic when crushed.
Flowers: White, small and numerous, with four separate petals. Each plant has one or two flowering stems on second year plants.
Seeds: Slender capsules 1-2 1⁄2" long, containing a single row of oblong black seeds. Seeds are viable in the soil for 5 years.
Roots: White, slender taproot, "S"-shaped at the top.
- Nature Conservancy Element Stewardship Abstract for garlic mustard
- Garlic mustard factsheet (MDA)
- WI DNR video on controlling garlic mustard
- WI DNR garlic mustard handout
- Minnesota Noxious Weeds (MN DOT)
- Current garlic mustard distribution in the US
- Video on Garlic Mustard Identification (University of Wisconsin)
- MISIN garlic mustard identification training module
- US Forest Service Fact Sheet
- Garlic Mustard Article in Wild Ones
- NRCS Management of garlic mustard
- Biological Control of Invasive Plants in Minnesota brochure