Alliaire officinale

Descrizione

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) was introduced to North America as a culinary herb in the 1860s and it is considered an invasive species in much of North America. As of 2020 it has been documented in most of the Eastern United States and Canada, with scattered populations in the west. It is listed as a noxious or restricted plant in the following states: Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. A current map of its distribution in the United States can be found at the Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System (EDDmapS). The most promising biological control agent, the monophagous weevil Ceutorhynchus scrobicollis, specifically studied since 2002, has been blocked for introduction into the US repeatedly by the USDA Technical Advisory, TAG, group before being approved in 2017, though regulatory hurdles remain. In Canada, C. scrobicollis was approved for release in 2018 and subsequently established in several sites across Ontario.