Celery

Celery (Apium graveolens Dulce Group or Apium graveolens var. dulce) is a cultivated plant belonging to the species Apium graveolens in the family Apiaceae that has been used as a vegetable since ancient times.

The original wild species has been selectively bred over centuries into three primary cultivar groups: stalk celery (Dulce Group), consumed for its fibrous edible stalks; leaf celery (Secalinum Group), grown for its aromatic leaves; and celeriac (Rapaceum Group), cultivated for its large, edible hypocotyl. Celery is characterized by its long, ribbed stalks, pinnate leaves, and small white flowers arranged in umbels.

Celery is composed primarily of water (95%) but contains large amounts of vitamin K and negligible fat. The vegetable is commonly consumed raw in salads, cooked in soups and stews, or juiced. Celery seeds, which have a strong, aromatic flavor, are used as a spice or processed into celery salt. Celery is among a small group of foods that may provoke allergic reactions.

Historically, celery has held medicinal, culinary, and symbolic significance. Literary evidence indicates celery cultivation in Ancient Greece, while ancient Egyptians incorporated it into funeral garlands. Celery remains eaten around the world.

Celery leaves are pinnate to bipinnate with rhombic leaflets 3–6 centimetres (1–2+1⁄2 inches) long and 2–4 cm (1–1+1⁄2 in) broad. The flowers are creamy-white, 2–3 mm (3⁄32–1⁄8 in) in diameter, and are produced in dense compound umbels. The seeds are broad ovoid to globose, 1.5–2 mm (1⁄16–5⁄64 in) long and wide. Modern cultivars have been selected for either solid petioles, leaf stalks, or a large hypocotyl. A celery stalk readily separates into "strings" which are bundles of angular collenchyma cells exterior to the vascular bundles.

The main chemicals responsible for the aroma and taste of celery are butylphthalide and sedanolide.

First attested and printed in English as "sellery" by John Evelyn in 1664, the modern English word "celery" derives from the French céleri, in turn from Italian seleri, the plural of selero, which comes from Late Latin selinon, the latinisation of the Ancient Greek: σέλινον, romanized: selinon, "celery". The earliest-attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek se-ri-no, written in Linear B syllabic script.

The species Apium graveolens was described by Carl Linnaeus in Volume One of his Species Plantarum in 1753. Cultivated celery has been called Apium graveolens var. dulce or Apium graveolens Dulce Group.