Helosciadium graveolens (L.) Rojas

Spice Flower Leaf

Family: UMBELLIFERAE (APIACEAE)

Genus: Helosciadium

Sinònims: Apium graveolens L.

Catalan common name: Api. Api bord.

Spanish common name: Apio. Apio silvestre.

Province distribution: Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Some regions

Uses and properties: Medicinal.

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Hemicryptophyte.

Habitats: Cultivated species. Non-saline wetlands (intermittent watercourses, streams, artesian wells, ditches). Humid soils and marshes.

Characteristics: Celery is a plant which naturally lives in moist grasslands; since its leaves are aromatic it is grown in market gardens and is a traditional component of our diet (var. rapaceum, and var. dulce). Like most of the Umbelliferae it has divided leaves, in this case in rather trilobed leaflets with a dentate awn. It can live alongside Apium nodiflorum, but is easily differentiated because the latter does not have trilobed leaves, and it also has a rhizome which allows it to live in running water whereas Apium graveolens has a tap root. It flowers in summer and autumn.