Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. What is the correct name for this plant?
Garlic mustard is known by its scientific name, Alliaria petiolata,
and is a member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae). This plant is known
by several common names, most of which refer to its garlic-like scent and
historic use as a cooking herb. "Garlic mustard" is the most widely
used common name in North America. Other common names include garlic root,
garlicwort, hedge-garlic, jack-by-the-hedge, jack-in-the-bush, mustard root,
poor-man's-mustard, and sauce-alone. Older scientific names used in old
collections include Alliaria alliaria, Sisymbrium alliaria, Sisymbrium
officinalis, Erysimum alliaria, and in North America, Alliaria officinalis.
More FAQs.
2. How can I identify
garlic mustard?
Garlic
mustard has a two-year life cycle and appears different in its first
and second years of growth. Its young leaves produce a garlic smell
when crushed. As leaves mature, this odor fades. In its first year,
garlic mustard produces rosettes of dark-purple to green, kidney-shaped
leaves with scalloped edges (see photo at right). Second year plants
grow rapidly from the rosette stage to about waist height and produce
more or less triangular-shaped leaves with sharply toothed edges.
Clusters of small white flowers grow at the top of each stem and slender
green fruits, called siliques, radiate outward along the stem below
the flowers. Individual plants can have multiple flowering stalks
and the number of flowers and siliques varies greatly from plant to
plant and stem to stem. Flowers each have four white petals that taper
toward the base and six stamens, two long and four short. For more
details, see About garlic mustard or
write to MSU Diagnostic
Service's Steven Gower, sgower@msu.edu.
More FAQs. |
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3. Where does garlic
mustard come from and where is it now?
Garlic mustard is native to Europe and is found from England east to Czechoslovakia
and from Sweden and Germany south to Italy. It has spread from its original
range and is now found in North Africa, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand,
Canada and the United States. As of 2000, garlic mustard was present in
34 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Within the U.S., the largest populations
are in New England and the Midwest.
Garlic mustard is
widely distributed in Michigan occurring from the Indiana/Ohio border
into the Upper Peninsula. At present, the heaviest infestations occur
in the southern Lower Peninsula. Although a recent survey is lacking,
based on published reports and recent personal observations, it is likely
that garlic mustard is widely distributed throughout the southern four
tiers of Michigan counties. Localized infestations have been documented
in Benzie, Lake and Wexford Counties in the northeastern Lower Peninsula
and in Mackinaw and Marquette Counties in the Upper Peninsula and likely
occur in other areas as well. Extensive human travel from southern Michigan
to northern recreational areas provides a constant threat of northward
expansion of this species. More
FAQs.
4. How did it get
to Michigan?
Garlic mustard may have been brought to North America for use as a cooking
herb, although it is also possible that seeds were accidentally introduced
from Europe. The first record of garlic mustard in the United States is
from Long Island, NY, in 1868. Since then, humans and animals have spread
it across North America. By 1991 it was found growing in 30 U.S. states
and three Canadian provinces. Garlic mustard produces large numbers of
seeds that can be transported by humans on boots, clothing, hair, by mowing,
in automobiles and trains. Birds, rodents and whitetail deer are likely
seed dispersers in woodland habitats. More
FAQs.
5. Why is garlic
mustard considered a problem?
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Garlic
mustard is one of the few non-native herbs capable of invading and
dominating forest understory communities. Its tolerance of low light
levels, coupled with its high seed production and ability to spread
rapidly, make garlic mustard a strong competitor. It diverts resources
from native spring woodland ephemeral plants such as liverworts, toothworts,
solomon-seal, trilliums, trout lilly, sweet-cisley and many others.
Because it begins growing very early in the spring, garlic mustard
has a head start on other flowering plants and tree seedlings. |
Native
woodland flowers like these Trillium are in danger of being crowded
out by garlic mustard.
Photo credits for this page: Douglas A. Landis |
It
readily invades forested habitats where it can displace native plants,
compete with timber species regeneration, alter soil composition and
structure, impact natural associations between plants and fungi, and
result in cascading ecosystem impacts. |
In Europe, garlic
mustard is a host plant for cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), turnip mosaic
virus (TMV), and turnip yellow mosic virus (TYMV-A), which affect commercial
crucifer (mustard family) crops. On the noxious weed list in several states,
the presence of garlic mustard as seed or rosettes in container or field
grown nursery stock may result in rejection of plant materials or import
restrictions. The harvest or commercial production of forest plants or
fungi such as ginseng or morel mushrooms may also be affected.
More FAQs.
6. How can I control
the garlic mustard on my property?
Cutting, pulling, burning, and applying herbicides have all been used
to control garlic mustard with varying degrees of success. For more details
on how to employ these methods, please see the web page on management
options. More FAQs.
7. Is biological
control of garlic mustard an option?
Using one organism to control another organism is called biological control.
Current research efforts are underway to identify insects in Europe that
feed on garlic mustard. If suitable species are found they could be imported
and released to control infestations in the United States. For more information
on this project please see the biological control section of the web page
on management options. More
FAQs.
8. Could biological
control create new problems?
Before any natural enemy is released in the United States it must undergo
extensive testing to demonstrate its safety in its new environment. Potential
biocontrol organisms are tested for several traits, the most important
of which are their host specificity and their effectiveness in controlling
the intended target. An effective biocontrol organism will cause extensive
damage to garlic mustard plants without harming other non-target organisms.
By selectively attacking garlic mustard, native plants and ecosystems
will be given a chance to recover. Biological control systems are designed
to be long-term solutions to managing pest species. For more information
on the development of biological controls, please see the biological control
section of the web page on management options.
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