Garlic Mustard, Second Controversial Neighbor

Garlic Mustard was one of the most dominant plants this 17th week of 2016, late April. You will see it everywhere on your walks

Garlic Mustard,white four petal flower,heart-shaped leaf with  toothed margins.

close-up of the flowers, there tend to be patches of plants rather than these single specimens.

now that it is in bloom.  Last fall it seemed just a oddity. But these would be second year plants growing from last fall basal rosettes. It is another plant with pros and cons.  It is popular with foragers but considered invasive by ecologists and gardeners.

One of the oldest known spices, found in 8000 year old cooking remains, it is said to have properties of both garlic and mustard.  Sensitivity to the taste and smell varies, I get a fairly mild taste while others in the family find it too strong. The foraging references note salads, sauces and pesto as options.

On the other hand, being a European native it does not have natural enemies here so grows more vigorously.  The plant produces allelochemicals, cyanides,which suppress the growth of competing plants.   Various compounds, glycosides, make it less tasty for deer, so by eating competing plants and disturbing the soil garlic mustard is favored by deer browsing. It is in the mustard family like the bittercress and will produce saliques with hundreds of seeds. Hand-pulling is suggested for control but the central white root can be deep.  Seeds survive up to five years so control has to be continuous.