Celery
Wild celery, smallage; Apium graveolens L.
- Known today as
- Apium graveolens, of the family Umbelliferae, native, Grieve writes, to the Levant and southern Europe and cultivated in Britain; Culpeper found the wild plant growing in dry and marshy ground, green all winter. The ripe seeds, the herb, and the root are used. The seeds have an agreeable smell and a warm, slightly pungent taste, and contain two oils, one heavy and one lighter, and some apiol, less than parsley.
- Kind
- Plant, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- apiol, two oils
- Earliest authority here
- Culpeper, The Complete Herbal (1653) (1616–1654)
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online · GBIF · Wikidata
Caution. The same meta-analysis found no more adverse events with celery than with placebo. Culpeper records that it provokes the courses. None of the sources read for this entry reports on its safety otherwise.
Celery: what was it used for?
A diuretic and a nervine. Grieve calls it a carminative stimulant, diuretic, tonic, and nervine, “promoting restfulness and sleep,” said to be very good for rheumatism, and recommends eating the fresh cultivated root as well as taking the oil or extract.
Celery: what does modern science say?
No European monograph for it was found for this entry. A 2025 meta-analysis of ten randomised trials with 511 participants found that celery preparations lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, and triglycerides, though not cholesterol, with seed preparations doing better than other parts; but it warned that the substantial heterogeneity and small samples called for further high-quality trials with longer follow-up.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- Mechanism
- Not established in the sources read for this entry.
- Standing
- There is no European monograph. A 2025 meta-analysis of ten trials found lower blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, and triglycerides.
- Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal, “Celery (Wild).” As published on botanical.com. Read in full · the text read
- Liu D, et al. (2025). Effects of celery (<i>Apium graveolens</i>) on blood pressure, glycemic and lipid profile in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Frontiers in nutrition. PMID 40765738. Abstract read · the text read
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Celery: what did the older authorities say?
- Culpeper, The Complete Herbal (1653)
- “It is an herb of Mercury,” Culpeper writes of smallage, the wild celery, “hotter, drier, and much more medicinal than parsley”: it opened obstructions of the liver and spleen, provoked urine and the courses, and was good against jaundice and agues, especially as a syrup. Its juice with honey of roses and barley-water made a gargle for sores in the mouth and throat, and the seed broke wind, killed worms, and helped a stinking breath.
Sources
- Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal, “Celery (Wild).” As published on botanical.com. Read in full · the text read
- Culpeper, N. The Complete Herbal, “SMALLAGE.” Project Gutenberg, 49513. Read in part · the text read
- Liu D, et al. (2025). Effects of celery (<i>Apium graveolens</i>) on blood pressure, glycemic and lipid profile in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Frontiers in nutrition. PMID 40765738. Abstract read · the text read
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 3 cited: 1 read in full, 1 read in part, 1 abstract read. 1 with the abstract on file.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Club members can point at a technical term in this entry, such as a constituent, an action, or a word of Jung’s, to read its definition from the source. The Club.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published October 17, 2026
- Chicago
“Celery.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 17, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/celery.
- MLA
“Celery.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 17 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/celery. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Celery. (2026, October 17). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/celery
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See Also
Sharing apiol
Also in Nicholas Culpeper
Centaury in Nicholas Culpeper · Catmint in Nicholas Culpeper · Chamomile in Nicholas Culpeper · Butcher’s broom in Nicholas Culpeper · everything Nicholas Culpeper names →
Drawing on the same sources: Grieve, Culpeper
Nearby in the alphabet
Cat’s claw · Cattail · Chaga (cracked, charcoal-like growth on living birch) · Caterpillar fungus (sending up a slender stalk)
Historical description, not medical advice.
