Garlic Mustard
509457
222063101
2008-06-27T11:29:26Z
147.240.236.9
{{Taxobox
| 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 biennial [[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]]). First year of growth plants form attractive clumps of round shaped, slightly wrinkled leaves, that when crushed smell like garlic. The next year plants flower in spring, producing cross shaped white flowers in dense clusters, as the flowering stems bloom they elongate into a spike-like shape. When blooming is done, plants produce upright fruits that release seeds in mid summer. Plants are often found growing along the margins of [[hedgerow]]s, giving rise to the old [[United Kingdom|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.
== Description ==
It is a [[herbaceous]] [[biennial plant]] (sometimes an [[annual plant]]) growing from a deeply growing, thin, white taproot that is scented like a horse-radish. Plants grow from 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. The [[flower]]s are produced in spring and summer in button-like clusters. Each small flower has four white petals 4-8 mm long and 2-3 mm broad, arranged in a cross shape. 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. Some plants can flower and complete their life-cycle in the first year. 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 where that genotype is suited to thrive.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/plants/ALIEN/fact/alpe1.htm PCA Alien Plant Working Group - Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
[[Image:Garlic Mustard close 800.jpg|thumb|left|Close-up of Garlic Mustard flowers]]
[[Image:Alliaria petiolataseeds.jpg|thumb|right|[[Fruit]]s and seeds]]
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 and [[pesto]]. Once used as medicine.
==As an invasive species==
Garlic mustard was introduced in [[North America]] as a culinary herb in the 1860s and is an [[invasive species]] in much of north America and is listed as a noxious or restricted plant as of 2006 in the US states of Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.<ref>[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALPE4 PLANTS Profile for Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) | USDA PLANTS<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Unlike most invasive plants, once it has an introduction into a new location, it persists and spreads into undisturbed plant communities. In many areas of its introduction in Eastern North America, it has become the dominant under-story species in woodland and flood plain environments, where eradication is difficult.<ref>Luken, James O., and John W. Thieret. 1997. ''Assessment and management of plant invasions''. Springer series on environmental management. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-94809-6 Page 117.</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.michigannature.org/garlicmustard.shtml
| publisher=Michigan Nature Association
| title=Garlic mustard
| accessdate=2007-05-24
}}</ref>{{Verify credibility|date=July 2007}} 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.<ref>{{cite journal
| url=http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040140
| title=Invasive Plant Suppresses the Growth of Native Tree Seedlings by Disrupting Belowground Mutualisms
| doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040140
| author=Stinson KA, Campbell SA, Powell JR, Wolfe BE, Callaway RM, et al.
| date=2006
| journal=PLoS Biology
| accessdate=2007-05-24
| volume=4
| pages=e140
}}</ref> Additionally, because [[White-tailed Deer]] rarely feed on Garlic Mustard, large deer populations may help to increase its population densities by consuming competing native plants. Trampling by browsing deer encourages additional seed growth by disturbing the soil. A complication to the eradication of Garlic Mustard from an area is the longevity of viable seeds in the ground. Seeds contained in the soil can germinate up to five years after being produced. <ref>Garlic Mustard. Plant Conservation Alliance Alien Working Group. Accessed on [[2007-07-14]]. [http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/alpe1.htm]</ref>
{{Commons|Alliaria petiolata}}
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{wikiversity-bc|Alliaria petiolata}}
*[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 plant species]]
[[Category:Leaf vegetables]]
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[[es:Alliaria petiolata]]
[[eo:Ajla mustardo]]
[[fr:Alliaire officinale]]
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[[it:Alliaria petiolata]]
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[[pt:Erva-alheira]]
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