False Garlic, Crow Poison

Nothoscordum bivalve (L.) Britton

Liliaceae (Lily Family)

▲ hillside covered with false garlic in spring

▲ ▼   mature, flowering plants

▲ ▼  flowers and buds

▲ leaves

▲ ▼   stem, leaves, flower buds

False Garlic, Crow Poison: 

               ·         Native perennial, bulbous, monocot plant, with narrow, grass-like, rounded dark green leaves that grow 4-16 inches long

               ·         Has flowering stems topped with clusters of 3-8 or more, 6-petalled creamy white flowers in late spring, early summer, often repeating again in fall; grows 6-18 inches tall

               ·         Toxic to livestock if grazed (usually not grazed); toxic to humans as well

               ·         Can distinguish from wild garlic by lack of onion/garlic odor from false garlic leaves; lacks prominent white midvein of leaves of Star-of-Bethlehem