Vegetable Seed Production
Family: Apiaceae

Common Name: Celery Scientific Name: Apium graveolens Family: Apiaceae

Celery introduction & history

Celery is a cool season biennial that is grown as an annual. Family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae is the old name.), Apium graveolens.

Wild celery was probably used for medicinal purposes hundreds of years before it was used for food.
When production of celery for medicinal purposes was begun in Europe in the 16th century, it was still a primitive plant, although it had been known for centuries in the Mediterranean area where it probably originated.
Celery is native to marshy low lands with a habitat that extends from Sweden southward to Algeria, Egypt, Abyssinia and in Asia to the mountains of India.
Cultivation of the plant for food was first recorded in France in 1623.
By the early part of the 18th Century, there had been improvement of the wild type of celery previously transported to Italy, France, and England.
As early as 1726, the plant was being used in England to flavor soups and stews.
Celery was introduced to North America by European colonists.

Celery Seed Production and Identification page

Common Name: Carrot Scientific Name: Daucus carota Family: Apiaceae

Carrot introduction & history

The carrot is a member of the family Apiaceae. (Umbelliferae is the outdated name.) Carrot is a cool season biennial dicot.

The carrot is believed to have originated in Afghanistan and is likely to have been domesticated in Asia Minor several thousand years ago.

The first written reports of the cultivation of purple or red and yellow carrot roots date to the 10th century.
The modern carrot probably evolved from a wild plant resembling Queen Anne's lace (also called wild carrot by some) which is a common weed with a white root in the Eastern US.

By the 12th century, carrots were grown in Spain and by the 13th century they were grown in China and much of western Europe.
The first cultivated types were probably not orange but white or purple. Genetic mutations occurred which produced orange roots.
The first orange types appeared in The Netherlands during the 17th century and quickly became popular in Europe. These orange types were brought to America by early European colonists.

Carrot Seed Production and Identification page