garlic mustard

Alliaria petiolata

• Also known as jack-by-the-hedge
   
• Soft, nettle-shaped, slightly hairy leaves
   
• Long stalks
   
• Faint smell of garlic
   
• Puts out brilliant white flowers in late spring.
   

Where found

Hedge-banks and open woodland, especially on chalky soils.
 

When to look for

• Flowers April-July

Fabulous garlic mustard facts

• Other common names include Sauce-alone, Jack-in-the-bush, Penny Hedge and Poor man's mustard
  
  
• Garlic mustard is a food source for as many as 69 species of insect, including the larvae of the Garden Carpet moth
  
  
• It is a wild member of the cabbage family
  
  
• The leaves and flowers are edible, tasting of both garlic and mustard, and are used in salads and pesto
  
  
• Garlic mustard was introduced into North America as a culinary herb in the 1860s and liked the conditions there so much that it has become an invasive species listed as a noxious or restricted plant in many states