Species of the Week: Garlic Mustard

Welcome back!

Hope everyone had a good break filled with opportunities to observe! As we prep for our final iNat assignments, I think its worth highlighting a species that has come up a few times in class now, our tastiest invasive species, garlic mustard. Pretty much anywhere you go on campus, you're sure to spot this species.

Garlic mustard (Alliaria pitiolata) is a species of plant native to Asia and Europe that has become highly invasive in the northeastern United States. Young garlic mustard can be identified by its rounder, heart-shaped leaves that grow very low to the ground (first image). Older garlic mustard forms a stem with sharper leaves, and eventually produces small white flowers (second image).

Garlic mustard is a particularly problematic invasive species due to the ease by which the wind spreads its seeds, and because of its very early emergence in the spring. Before our native plants even have the chance to begin popping up, garlic mustard is already grown to the point that it easily outcompetes them for sunlight, water, and nutrients. The chemicals produced from the roots of garlic mustard even have a destructive effect on the fungal networks that are vital to forest ecosystems.

Fortunately, garlic mustard is edible and especially delicious in pesto recipes, so it can be put to good use after pulling it from the ground (roots and all) to help our native species. Its best to harvest garlic mustard for cooking purposes when it is young, as it tends to get more bitter the longer it grows.

Posted on Απρίλιος 16, 2023 0935 ΜΜ by jackthropod