Forest Invaders

Garlic Mustard - very aggressive  invasive
species in Michigan.

With all this warm weather we've had lately, plants in Michigan are getting a head start. Sunlight beams straight through the bare tree branches to the forest floor, where it awakens woodland plants and wildflowers. Early spring is a very important time for these plants because they have to take as much energy from the sun as they can before the light is blocked by leaves on the trees above them. Many of the most stunning plants in Michigan come into bloom between April and May, some of which include violets, the three-petaled trillium, native orchids, and trailing arbutus. However, when I was in the woods this past weekend, the only plant I noticed shooting through the leaves was a foul-smelling plant known as garlic mustard. This plant is not originally from North America, and it is having detrimental effects on native woodland plants. It is the first plant to blast through the humus on the forest floor and grows faster, blocking out sunlight from other plants. Woodland plants, especially trilliums and orchids are very sensitive, and these voracious unattractive weeds are causing their disappearance from North American woodlands.

Showy Ladyslipper (Cypripedium reginae)this
orchid is also being threatened by garlic mustard

Trillum (Trillium grandiflorum) especially
affected by garlic mustard.

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens) this rare, low-growing
creeper is one of the sweetest-smelling
flowers in the woods, is heavily being
endangered by garlic mustard.