Herbs Past

Celery

Celery (Apium graveolens) is a biennial herb. It will survive and overwinter in USDA zones 7-8. It is a member of the carrot family (Apiaceae). It can grow up to three feet high. It is native to the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East. Wild celery and early cultivars thereof were used culinarily by the classical Greeks and Romans. In Greece, the victors in the Nemean and Isthmian Panhellenic games were awarded wreaths made of wild celery (not parsley as is frequently asserted by Internet bloggers).

Celery cultivars that are grown for leaves and seeds are described taxonomically as Apium graveolens var. seculinum. In medieval England these cultivars were known as smallage or march. When he issued the Capitulare de Villis in about 800 AD, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne required that smallage (apium in Carolingian Latin) be grown on all his imperial estates. Le Calendrier de Cordoue (c. 961-976 AD) recorded that smallage (karafs in Arabic) was being grown in the gardens of Islamic Iberia. Celery was most commonly used as a pot herb (an ingredient in soups and stews). In the humeral theory of medicine, celery is cold and moist. To maintain balanced nutrition celery was often paired with leeks which are hot and dry.

Modern versions of smallage are available in nurseries and on-line. These plants are variously described as leaf celery or cutting celery. One popular cultivar is ‘Par-cel’. Celery cultivars grown for succulent petioles (Apium graveolens var. dulce) were developed in the 17th century. This cultivar group is the one that is now most familiar. Celery cultivars grown for an enlarged root/hypocotyl (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum) are known in contemporary English as celeriac.

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