Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae, and yields two important vegetables known as celery and celeriac. Cultivars of the species have been used for centuries, whilst others have been domesticated only in the last 200-300 years. The petiole is the part consumed. Taxonomy Celery was officially described by Carolus Linnaeus in Volume One of his Species Plantarum in 1753. The closely related Apium bermejoi from the island of Minorca is one of the rarest plants in Europe with o… (More on Celery)