The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

garlic-mustard, hedge garlic

Stems

simple or branched distally, (1.5–)3–9(–13) dm; glabrous or pilose basally, trichomes to 1.5 mm.

Basal leaves

petiole 3–16(–22) cm;

blade reniform or cordate, (6–)15–88(–118) mm wide (shorter in length), surfaces glabrous or pilose.

Cauline leaves

petiole shorter than basal;

blade ovate, cordate, or deltate, to 15 × 15 cm, base cordate or truncate, margins acutely to obtusely toothed, apex acute.

Racemes

several-flowered.

Flowers

sepals (2–)2.5–3.5(–4.5) × 0.7–1.5 mm;

petals (2.5–)4–8(–9) × (1.5–)2–3(–3.5) mm, base attenuate to clawlike;

filaments 2–3.5(–4.5) mm;

anthers oblong, 0.7–1 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

terete, (2–)3–10(–15) mm.

Fruits

divaricate-ascending, subtorulose, quadrangular or subterete, (2–)3–7(–8) cm × 1.2–2.5 mm;

style (0.2–)1–2(–3) mm.

Seeds

dark brown or black, narrowly oblong, 2–4.5 × 0.7–2 mm.

2n

= 42.

Alliaria petiolata

Phenology Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Roadsides, trails, railroad tracks, stream banks, waste places, fields, shaded woodlands, bluffs, thickets, steep slopes, disturbed fields, floodplains, woods, shaded forest floor
Elevation 0-1200 m (0-3900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DC; DE; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; ON; South America (Argentina); Eurasia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 745.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Thlaspideae > Alliaria
Synonyms Arabis petiolata, A. officinalis, Erysimum alliaria
Name authority (M. Bieberstein) Cavara & Grande: Bull. Orto Bot. Regia Univ. Napoli 3: 418. (1913)
Web links