Almost hairless, Garlic Mustard is a quite commonly seen wildflower of wood margins, roadsides and hedges. Sometimes reaching over 1 metre high, this hairless biennial has erect stalks which bear white 4-petalled flowers (3-5mm across) in elongated racemes. The glossy leaves are long-stalked and distinctively heart-shaped with bluntly-toothed margins. They bloom from April to June and are followed by seeds in erect cylindrical siliquas (long, thin seedpods). This is a native plant which belongs to the family Brassicaceae.
My first record of this plant is in 1977 in Dalkey Park, Co Dublin and I photographed it there in 2008.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
