Celery

Celery, Apium graveolens, a British biennial umbelliferous plant, common near the sea. It has a strong, disagreeable smell, and is acrid and dangerous to eat when green in its wild state. In cultivation it is generally blanched by earthing up, and the leaf-stalks then form a favourite salad or are eaten stewed. Its fruits contain a larger proportion of the essential oil or essence of celery than the rest of the plant; but this essence is now prepared artificially. There are two races of celery, the red-stalked and the white-stalked, each comprising many varieties; whilst celeriac or turnip-rooted celery is a very distinct form, cultivated for the sake of its root in France and Germany. Celery is recommended as an anti-rheumatic.