About garlic mustard
Life cycle
Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a biennial invasive plant that prefers shady forests and floodplains.
Growth habit
Round to kidney-shaped leaves in rosettes the first year. Following spring, forms erect 1- to 4-ft. shoots with more triangular leaves, and begins flowering and dies by summer. Terminal spikes of white, 4-petaled flowers.
![leaves of garlic mustard](/agnr.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/styles/optimized/public/2021-03/hgic_invasives_garlicmustard_infestation_512.jpg?itok=0y0hx211)
Reproduction
Mustard-like seeds in long, slender, upright capsules.
![garlic mustard infestation](/agnr.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/styles/optimized/public/2021-03/hgic_invasives_garlicmustard_infestation_576.jpg?itok=mS-VK9YZ)
Management
Easy to pull small infestations. Pull it before it goes to flower and seed.