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OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, May 22, 2009 · 12 Celebrate Biodiversity Day by pulling garlic mustard The Oakville Horticultural Society and the Town of Oakville are asking residents to help stop the spread of garlic mustard. Introduced to North America by pioneers as a pot herb, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) has been spreading rapidly. By seeding prolifically and releasing chemicals into the soil that reduce the growth of other plants, garlic mustard keeps expanding its range. So, on International Biodiversity Day, today and tomorrow, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. a Garlic Mustard Pull will be held at Iroquois Shoreline Woods. The pull will begin with a brief training session to help participants identify this plant. Participants should meet at 10 a.m. on both days in the parking lot off of North Service Road East and bring gloves for the job. "The focus for this year's IDB is invasive alien species. These are the species that pose threats to biodiversity and they therefore threaten the ecological health of the planet and well being of society," said Catherine Kavassalis, president of the Oakville Horticultural Society. The Oakville Horticultural Society and the Town of Oakville are partnering to begin removal of GM from two of the Town's woodlands: Winston Park Woods and Iroquois Shoreline Woods. The weed removal began at Iroquois Shoreline Woods on Arbor Day with a group of students from Rotherglen School. On May 16, Oakville's 15th Pathfinders joined the work to remove GM from Winston Park Woods. Today and tomorrow, Iroquois Shoreline Woods will be back under attack by volunteers from Genworth Financial and community volunteers. These efforts are part of a first time province-wide initiative to address invasive alien species. Residents are also asked to look for garlic mustard in their yard. A single plant normally lives for two years. It begins as an attractive low growing rosette with round-shaped wrinkled toothed leaves that smell like garlic when crushed. The bright green leaves are often visible late into the fall and early in the spring. Usually during its second year, the leaves become more triangular and the plant grows taller. In late May, it will begin producing clusters of small, fourpetaled, cross shaped, white flowers. Shortly after, slender seed pods will form containing two rows of abundant shiny black seeds. It is important to pull or cut this plant down before those seed pods form. For more information, contact Kavassalis at 905-849-7581 or visit the Biodiversity Education and Awareness Network (BEAN) at www.biodiversityeducation.ca.