Garlic Mustard or Money Plant? And Does it Matter?

I almost panicked the other day when I found the fall rosette of a plant that I thought might be Garlic Mustard, a Class A noxious weed in the State of Washington and “one of the most serious invaders in forested areas of the northeastern and midwestern United States.” This particular invasive plant might have been on my mind since I had seen a picture on Instagram posted by “Kingcountyweeds” of a Garlic Mustard plant “trying to fatten up for the winter.”

The plant I found next to Forest Park in Everett looked similar to the one in the picture, but after doing some research, I decided it might actually be Money Plant, not Garlic Mustard. I was starting to relax, but I wanted to be sure. My plant had fuzzy stems and those of Garlic Mustard were described as smooth, and the crushed leaves of my plant had no discernible garlic smell. Still, I couldn’t find a source that told me clearly how to separate the two plants in their first year when they are still low-growing rosettes.

I sent my picture of the plant to noxious.weeds@kingcounty.gov and got prompt help from Sasha Shaw, Communication Specialist of the King County Noxious Weed Control Program. She wrote that I was right about Money Plant having fuzzy stems, but that Garlic Mustard stems are “actually a bit hairy too, so I should focus on the leaves.” She said that Money Plant’s leaves are “thicker and fuzzy” compared with Garlic Mustard’s leaves which are “thinner and not fuzzy,” but a more reliable difference is simply the shape of the leaves. She told me that Money Plant leaves are more elongated, whereas the lower Garlic Mustard leaves are more rounded and “kidney” shaped. My plant was almost certainly Money Plant. Thank you, Sasha.

Money Plant, also known as Honesty, Moonwort, and Silver Dollar Plant, is a non-native that naturalizes easily in the Pacific Northwest. But is it invasive? It’s not on the State of Washington’s noxious weed list, and apparently a lot of people let it grow in their flower beds. Personally, I have not found it to be too invasive, but I pull it out when I find it. Why? Because I want to make room for native plants that better support the forest food chain.

So, if I’m going to remove either plant, does it matter if it’s Money Plant or Garlic Mustard? Absolutely! Garlic Mustard is so highly invasive and so notoriously difficult to eradicate, that the advice to anyone doing backyard forest restoration who finds Garlic Mustard growing on their property is this – Get help before attempting to remove it! A noxious weed specialist in your jurisdiction, like Sasha, can be an invaluable resource.