Envoy at 12:37, 14 April 2007

2007-04-14T12:37:28Z

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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Garlic Mustard
| image = Garlic mustard.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Capparales]]
| familia = [[Brassicaceae]]
| genus = '''''[[Alliaria]]'''''
| species = '''''A. petiolata'''''
| binomial = ''Alliaria petiolata''
| binomial_authority = ([[Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein|M.Bieb.]]) [[Fridiano Cavara|Cavara]] & [[Loreto Grande|Grande]]
}}

'''Garlic mustard''' (''Alliaria petiolata'') is a [[flowering plant]] in the Mustard family, [[Brassicaceae]]. It is native to [[Europe]], western and central [[Asia]], and northwestern [[Africa]], from [[Morocco]], [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] and the [[British Isles]], north to northern [[Scandinavia]], and east to northern [[India]] and western [[China]] ([[Xinjiang]]). It often occurs along the margins of [[hedgerow]]s, giving rise to the old [[Britain|British]] folk name of ''Jack-by-the-hedge''. Other common names include ''Garlic Root'', ''Hedge Garlic'', ''Sauce-alone'', ''Jack-in-the-bush'', ''Penny Hedge'' and ''Poor Man's Mustard''. The genus name ''Alliaria'', "resembling ''[[Allium]]''", refers to the [[garlic]]-like odour of the crushed foliage.

[[Image:Garlic Mustard close 800.jpg|thumb|left|Close-up of Garlic Mustard flowers]]
It is a [[herbaceous]] [[biennial plant]] (sometimes an [[annual plant]]) growing to 30-100 cm (rarely to 130 cm) tall. The [[leaf|leaves]] are stalked, triangular to heart-shaped, 10-15 cm long (of which about half being the [[Petiole (botany)|petiole]]) and 2-6 cm broad, with a coarsely toothed margin. In biennial specimens, first-year plants appear as a rosette of green leaves close to the ground; these rosettes remain green through the winter and develop into mature flowering plants the following spring. Others flower and complete their life-cycle in their first year. The [[flower]]s are produced in spring and summer in buttonlike clusters, each flower small, white, with four petals 4-8 mm long and 2-3 mm broad, in the shape of a cross. The [[fruit]] is an erect, slender, four-sided pod 2-7 cm long, called a [[silique]], green maturing pale grey-brown, containing two rows of small shiny black [[seed]]s which are released when the pod splits open. A single plant can produce hundreds of seeds, which scatter as much as several meters from the parent plant. Depending upon conditions, garlic mustard flowers either self-fertilize or are cross-pollinated by a variety of insects. Self-fertilized seeds are genetically identical to the parent plant, enhancing its ability to colonize an area. Although water may transport the seeds, they do not float well and are not carried far by wind. Long distance dispersal is most likely aided by human activities and wildlife.

In Europe as many as 69 species of [[insect]]s and 7 species of [[fungi]] utilize Garlic Mustard as a food plant, including the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species such as the [[Garden Carpet]] moth.

===Cultivation and uses===
The leaves, flowers and fruit are [[edible wild plants|edible]] as [[food]] for [[human]]s, and are best when young. They have a mild flavour of both garlic and mustard, and are used in [[salad]]s.

==As an invasive species==
Garlic mustard was introduced in [[North America]] as a culinary herb in the 1860s and is now considered an [[invasive species]]. The insects and fungi that feed on it in its native habitat are not present in North America, increasing its seed productivity and allowing it to out-compete native plants.[http://www.michigannature.org/garlicmustard.shtml]
In addition, a study published in 2006 concluded that Garlic Mustard harms [[mycorrhizal fungi]] that some North American plants, including native forest trees, require for proper growth [http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040140]. Additionally, because [[White-tailed Deer]] rarely eat Garlic Mustard, large deer populations may help to expand it by removing competing native plants and exposing the soil and seedbed through trampling. A complication in the eradication of Garlic Mustard is the long time span in which seeds may remain viable in the ground. Seeds have been observed to germinate up to 11 years after being planted in the ground.

{{Commons|Alliaria petiolata}}

==External links==
*[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Alliaria+&SPECIES_XREF=petiolata&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Alliaria petiolata'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200009178 Flora of China: ''Alliaria petiolata'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200009178 Flora of Pakistan: ''Alliaria petiolata'']
*[http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Alliaria+petiolata Plants for a Future: ''Alliaria petiolata'']
*[http://www.patapscoheritagegreenway.org/garlic07/index.html Garlic mustard recipes]
*[http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/alpe1.htm U.S. NPS guide]

[[Category:Brassicaceae]]
[[Category:Invasive species]]

Garlic Mustard - Revision history

Envoy at 12:37, 14 April 2007