Celery is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since ancient times. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, leaves or hypocotyl are eaten and used in cooking. Celery seed powder is used as a spice.
Celery
Cross-section of a 'Pascal' celery rib, the petiole
Leaf celery, also known as Chinese celery
Celery tissue under 400x magnification of a light microscope
Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus Apium and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants, with more than 3,800 species in about 446 genera, including such well-known and economically important plants as ajwain, angelica, anise, asafoetida, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lovage, cow parsley, parsley, parsnip and sea holly, as well as silphium, a plant whose exact identity is unclear and which may be extinct.
Apiaceae
Chaerophyllum bulbosum
Anise (Pimpinella anisum) from Woodville (1793)
Angelica archangelica