Garlic mustard is in bloom right now both in its native Europe and in North America, where it is typically considered an invasive plant. Here is a shot of it in its native range (The Netherlands):
Bibio lanigerus ( or marci?)/Alliaria petiolata - Kleine rouwvlieg/look-zonder-look
Originally uploaded by AnneTanne.
And here it is again in the USA:
garlic mustard visitor
Originally uploaded by cyanocorax.
Both are being visited by insects that are likely pollinating the flowers.
2 comments:
It's still in bud in my yard. I've been weeding like crazy trying to beat the bloom. Two wheelbarrows full so far from one small garden. It's a bit of a hopeless task, but I can't just leave it there.
We've got an acre in Columbia County, NY, near the MA border, that we've nearly cleaned of it -- but the neighbors' yards are heavily infested and we still find a few small second year plants on our lot.
Last week-end we took two woods walks, one in a conservation area heavily infested with GM -- but still much bloodroot, toothwort, trillium, trout lily, spring beauty and so on amongst it. The second in another conservation area where the GM was not spread so widely or heavily, but on the way in. Among one of the largest, densest stands of trout lily I remember, we removed a handful of second-year GM plants, the only ones in evidence there.
If I didn't have a day job, I'd be interested in monitoring the garlic mustard's spread and effect on the native flora in that area. (But, as a scientist, couldn't pick it, and that would require restraint I may not have.)
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