Wild celery Apium graveolens

Native to Europe, the Mediterranean region, and western Asia, celery has long been cultivated
as a vegetable and cooked or used raw in dishes such as Waldorf salad (celery, walnuts, and
apple). Medicinally, the seeds and essential oil of celery are used mainly for urinary and arthritic
disorders, and also to help clear uric acid from joints affected by gout.

LEAVES
Also known as smallage, wild celery is a more leafy plant than cultivated varieties,
with divided, wedgeshaped leaves

STEM
The fleshy stems can be juiced as a detoxifying remedy.

PARTS USED Seeds, stalks, essential oil
MAIN CONSTITUENTS Volatile oil (incl.limonene, apiol, selinene, and phthalides),
coumarins, furanocoumarins, flavonoids,minerals (incl. iron, phosphorus,and potassium)

ACTIONS Antirheumatic, sedative, urinary antiseptic, diuretic, carminative, hypotensive,
antispasmodic, galactagogue, antiinflammatory,encourages elimination
of uric acid, antifungal activity reported.




HOW TO USE

DECOCTION Use 1⁄2oz (15g) of seeds to 1 pint (600ml) of water, simmer for
10 minutes and take in 1⁄2–1 cup doses 3 times daily for rheumatic disorders,
gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and urinary tract inflammations.

MASSAGE OIL Use 20 drops (1ml) oil in 4fl oz (120ml) of almond oil and massage
into the abdomen for indigestion,flatulence, and liver congestion. Use also
for sciatica, rheumatism, and arthritis.


FOOTBATH Add 20 drops (1ml) oil to a bowl of warm water to soak feet or toe
joints with very painful gout.

JUICE Liquidize the stalks (ribs) and leaves and drink in 1 cup doses as a remedy for
debility and nervous exhaustion.

HOW TO SOURCE

GROW Prefers moist, well-drained soil in full sun. Plant the seeds in seed trays in
spring, cover with a thin layer of compost,and place in a heated propagator or on
a warm window sill. Transfer to 3in (7.5cm)pots, and when 4in (10cm) tall plant in
final growing positions 12in (30cm) apart.

FORAGE Grows wild in coastal areas.
HARVEST Pick the cultivated variety as a vegetable in the first year; collect the
seeds when ripe in the second summer.

CAUTION Do not use seeds if pregnant.Do not use cultivated seeds medicinally,
as they are often treated with fungicides.Do not take the essential oil internally
unless under professional supervision.