Nothoscardum

The nothoscardum in my San Francisco City College 
teaching garden has no scent, and has been identified by 
the California Natural History Herbarium as N. inodorum. 
It has bulbs with many bulblets which are very deep in 
the soil, almost below the depth of an average shovel. 
When you get them, you see that some of the bulbs are 
white, so you can see them against the soil, while 
others are brown, so blend in. I usually have to discard 
a bit of my precious, well-amended soil to be sure not 
to put any bulblets back. It also seems to be forming 
seeds, though I have not confirmed that the seed 
germinates. It is an awful, terrible weed. We dig it 
out, and then pull or dig the tiny plants that sprout 
from the bulblets, or maybe from seed. I pick off every 
flowerhead that I see, between digging, but leave the 
plants until I can dig them, to mark the spots where the 
big bulbs have to come out. Haven't tried Roundup, as it 
is in an organic garden. 

I have also seen this plant in the herb garden of the 
Huntington Museum, where I think the gardener is aware 
of it. There it is among some allium or other, which is 
the worst place for it, as it looks similar and I doubt 
it is edible. 

I have also seen an isolated plant at a community 
garden, where it was removed and doesn't seem to be 
coming back. 

This plant is a foot and half or so tall, with several 
small white flowers on top, like a not very interesting 
brodiaea. If you have only one plant of it, that is the 
best time to control it. Beyond that, all bets are off. 

Pam Peirce,
San Francisco
Zone 9 or 10
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