Photographs: Blarney, Co. Cork

Garlic Mustard / Jack-by-the-hedge Alliaria petiolata Bóchoinneal Family: Brassicaceae Flowering March-July. Biennial. Native. White flowers with 4 petals are followed by erect, beak-less seedpods on short thick stalks. The pale-green leaves are heart-shaped and coarse-toothed, smelling of garlic when crushed. A usually unbranched and more/less hairless plant. Height to 120cm. Found on moist, relatively fertile soils in woodland and hedges and on roadsides and river banks. Can be locally frequent in some areas but rare in the west and south-west of Ireland

Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata, Bóchoinneal