PNW 444 • March 1993 Wild Garlic Allium vineale L. J.P. Fitzsimmons and L.C. Burrill Wild garlic (Allium vineale) one side, and dull black. was introduced from Europe Usually, some or all of the where it was used as a food flowers are replaced by bul- flavoring. It is found in pas- bils, which are shed to form tures, lawns, ornamental beds, newDATE. plants or sprout in the and several cultivated crops. It head to form a mass of green grows west of the Cascades plantlets. Bulbils are ovate, from Vancouver Island south OFsmooth, shiny, the size of a into northwest Oregon. When Figure 2.—Mature wild kernel of wheat, and are livestock eat it, the resulting garlic plant difficult to separate mechani- poultry, meat, milk, and egg cally from wheat. products also have a garlic the base that produce new taste. Bread made from in- plants. Bulbs are coveredOUT with fested wheat also has a garlic a thin, brittle, papery mem- RELATED taste. With three modes of brane. SeveralIS leaves appear- reproduction, wild garlic ing from near the base of the SPECIES spreads rapidly to cover an stem are long, pointed, hol- Several species of wild onion area. Once established, it is low, and nearly round. The (Allium spp.) can be confused difficult to control. stem is slender, round, solid, with wild garlic. Different smooth, and up to 3 feet tall. onions are found locally From May to June, small within the region. Though IDENTIFICATION greenish-yellowinformation: flowers form wild onions resemble wild Wild garlic is a perennial clusters on short, slender garlic, you can distinguish member of the lily family that stalks at the top of the stems. them with certainty as follows: reproduces from underground When seeds are produced, bulb offsets, aerial bulbils, and they are flattened, convex on 1. The obvious garlic odor of seeds. The main bulb often wild garlic. grows a mass of small bulbs at 2. If all of the flowers are current replaced with small bulbils, PUBLICATION it is wild garlic. 3. If flowers are present, look for the inner three stamens. On wild garlic, each of the most stamens will have two THIS prominent appendages that rise above the anthers. (See For Figure 4 on the next page.) http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalogJim P. Fitzsimmons, graduate Figure 1.—Wild garlic usually Figure 3.—The plants sprouting student, crop and soil sciences; and has two small bulbs at the side of from this garlic head are aerial Larry C. Burrill, Extension weed the main bulb. bulbils, not germinating seeds. specialist, Oregon State University. A Pacific Northwest Extension Publication • Oregon • Idaho • Washington Herbicide registrations change CONTROL frequently; therefore, this BIOLOGICAL. No known publication does not contain insects or organisms control specific herbicide use instruc- these plants. The close rela- tions. Registered uses are tionship to cultivated onion 4 mm summarized each year in the and garlic makes biological Pacific Northwest Weed Control control unlikely. Animals may Handbook. graze it, but the products will be tainted, and the population In addition, detailed instruc- of wild garlic will not drop. tions for herbicide use are 0 mm provided on herbicide con- MECHANICAL. Tilling the tainer labels and in other soil does not kill wild garlic literature provided by herbi- easily. Food reserves in the cide manufacturers. bulbs reestablish the plant DATE. after tillage. Fall tillage, followed by spring tillage, USE PESTICIDES SAFELY! prevents normal early growth. OF This, followed for several • Wear protective clothing years by thorough cultivation Figure 4.—Side view of wild and safety devices as as green shoots appear, is garlic. Note that one sepal has been recommended on the label. necessary for control. removed to show the stamen with Bathe or shower after each filaments and anther. Wild OUTgarlic use. Following the practice de- normally has six stamens. • Read the pesticide label— even if you’ve used the scribed in the previous para- IS pesticide before. Follow graph with several years’ CHEMICAL. In noncrop areas or in grass crops, several closely the instructions on plantings of cultivated row the label (and any other crops reduces the supply of herbicides can control wild garlic selectively. Similar directions you have). bulbs in the soil. Then indi- • Be cautious when you vidual plants or clumps can be control in clover crops or pasture containing legumes is apply pesticides. Know removed as they appear. your legal responsibility as more difficult. information:Repeated a pesticide applicator. You applications are necessary. In gardens and ornamental may be liable for injury or settings, cut garlic below the Planting grass or a grain crop damage resulting from soil with a hoe or shovel, or in infested land helps offset pesticide use. burn small patches down to the cost of control since you the soil with a small propane can spray these and then torch. This does not kill the currentharvest a crop. plants, but it doesPUBLICATION slow regrowth. Plastic or fiber mats prevent the emergence of garlic plants. Figure 4 was drawn and provided by Cindy Roche, graduate student, Department of most Crop and Soil Science, University of Idaho. THIS Published and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by the Oregon State University Extension Service, O.E. Smith, director; Washington State University Cooperative Extension, Larry G. James, interim director; the University For of Idaho Cooperative Extension System, LeRoy D. Luft, director; and the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture cooperating. http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalogThe three participating Extension Services offer educational programs, activities, and materials—without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, or diasbility—as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Oregon State University Extension Service, Washington State University Cooperative Extension, and the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System are Equal Opportunity Employers. 50/0/50.