Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

I have been expecting to find this plant, as it’s pretty common around the area, but until now not located in my garden. Garlic Mustard, or Jack-by-the-Hedge as it is sometimes called, is a tall member of the brassica family with white flowers that appear in April/May and leaves that have a hint of garlic when you crush them. You can eat the young tender leaves in a salad and the roots apparently have a horseradish flavour. From a gardening point of view it can be a very invasive plant, so probably I should pull it out, but it is a handsome plant and also the food-plant for Green-veined White butterflies there’s no rush …

#921 Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)