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Submit a photoGarlic Mustard
Alliaria petiolata
⚠️ PROHIBITED NOXIOUS — a biennial from Europe with heart-shaped toothed leaves that smell of garlic when crushed, and tall (up to 1 m) stalks of small white four-petaled flowers in May. Extraordinarily destructive in forest understories — produces allelopathic chemicals that poison soil mycorrhizae, disabling regeneration of native trees. One of the most serious threats to North American woodlands.
Quick Facts
Distribution
Rare in Alberta — spreading from central/eastern Canada; report sightings
Light
Part to full shade (understory)
Bloom Time
May–June (2nd year)
Soil
Moist, rich forest floor
Water
Moderate
Growing & Cultivation
Propagation
DO NOT PROPAGATE. Control: hand-pull (full root) before seed set; bag and landfill. Multi-year effort required due to long-lived seedbank.
