Celery (Apium graveolens)

is a herbaceous biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the coasts of western and northern Europe, most commonly in ditches and saltmarshes. It grows to 1 m tall, with pinnate to bipinnate leaves with rhombic leaflets 3-6 cm long and 2-4 cm broad. The flowers are creamy-white, 2-3 mm diameter, produced in dense compound umbels. The seeds are broad ovoid to globose, 1.5-2 mm long and wide.

Cultivation and Uses

Celery is a very popular vegetable, used primarily in salads and soups. There are two main Cultivar Groups:

• Apium graveolens Dulce Group - Celery (discussed below)
• Apium graveolens Rapaceum Group - Celeriac (see the separate page for details)

A large number of cultivars of celery are grown by gardeners, which differ little from the wild species, mainly in having stouter leaf stems. They are ranged under two classes, white and red; the white cultivars being generally the best flavoured, and most crisp and tender.

It has a furrowed stalk with wedge-shaped leaves, the whole plant having a coarse, rank taste, and a peculiar smell. With cultivation and blanching, the stalks lose their acrid qualities and assume the mild, sweetish, aromatic taste peculiar to celery as a salad plant.

Celery
Apium graveolens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Apiales Family: Apiaceae Genus: Apium Species: A. graveolens
Binomial name
Apium graveolens L.

The plants are raised from seed, sown either in a hot bed or in the open garden according to the season of the year, and after one or two thinnings out and transplantings they are, on attaining a height of 15-20 cm, planted out in deep trenches for convenience of blanching, which is effected by earthing up to exclude light from the stems.

In the past, celery was grown as a vegetable for winter and early spring; because of its antitoxic properties, it was a cleansing tonic after the stagnation of winter.

Celery seed is used as a spice. The homeopathic extract of the seeds is widely used in France to relieve retention of urine. When combined with salt, the resulting spice blend is called celery salt.

Food Uses

As a salad plant, celery, especially if at all “stringy”, is difficult to digest. However, it possesses valuable diuretic properties.

Both blanched and green it is stewed and used soups, the seeds also being used as a flavouring ingredient. Even after long immersion in broth, the stalks remain somewhat crisp, and useful for adding texture to the soup.

In the south of Europe celery is seldom blanched, but is much used in its natural condition.

Chopped, it is one of the three vegetables considered the holy trinity of Louisiana Creole and Cajun cuisine.

Celery salt is used as an alternate to ordinary salt seasoning in various recipes and cocktails. It is notably used to enhance the flavor of Bloody Mary and the Chicago-style hot dog.

Medicinal Uses

The whole plant is gently stimulant, nourishing, and restorative; it can be liquefied, with the juice taken for joint and urinary tract inflammations, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cystitis, or urethritis, for weak conditions, and for nervous exhaustion.

More specific uses: The seeds are mainly used as a diuretic, these help clear toxins from the system, so are especially good for gout, where uric acid crystals collect in the joints, and arthritis. Slightly bitter, they act as a mild digestive stimulant. Harvest after the plant flowers in its second year. Infuse the seeds for rheumatoid arthritis and gout, combine 10 ml lignum vitae, and add 2.5 ml to a cup of boiling water.

Essential oils distilled from the seeds, the essential oil is more potent therapeutically. Use with care. ’Oil’ can be used for painful gout in the feet or toes, add 15 drops oil to a bowl of warm water, and soak the feet. ’Massage oil’ can be made by diluting 5-10 drops celery oil in 20 ml almond or sunflower oil, and massage into arthritic joints.

The root is an effective diuretic and has been taken for urinary stones and gravel. It also acts as a bitter digestive remedy and liver stimulant. A tincture can be used as a diuretic in hypertension and urinary disorders, as a component in arthritic remedies, or as a kidney energy stimulant and cleanser.

Caution

• Bergapten in the seeds could increase photosensitivity, so do not apply the essential oil externally in bright sunshine.
• Avoid the oil and large doses of the seeds during pregnancy: they can act as a uterine stimulant.
• Do not buy seeds intended for cultivation, because they are often treated with fungicides.

Etymology

There is a widespread myth that the word celery (”The Fast Vegetable”) derives from the Latin word, celer, meaning fast or swift. This is entirely false — there is no connection between them. It actually comes from the Greek selinon, meaning parsley. It passed through Latin, Italian and French before becoming the modern English word celery.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Celery”.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 26th, 2005 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Aromatherapy and Essential Oils. Both comments and pings are currently closed.