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Apium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apium
Apium graveolens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Subfamily: Apioideae
Tribe: Apieae
Genus: Apium
L.
Species

See text.

Apium is a genus, as currently circumscribed by Plants of the World Online, of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, with an unusual highly disjunct distribution with one species in the temperate Northern Hemisphere in the Western Palaearctic (Europe, western Asia, north Africa), and the rest in the temperate Southern Hemisphere in southern Africa, southern South America, Australia, and New Zealand.[1] They are prostrate to medium-tall annual, biennial or perennial herbs growing up to 1 m high in wet soil, often marshes and salt marshes, and have pinnate to bipinnate leaves and small white flowers in compound umbels. Some species are edible, notably Apium graveolens, which is the wild ancestor of the commercially important vegetables celery, celeriac and leaf celery.

The genus is the type genus of the family Apiaceae and the order Apiales; the type species of the genus is Apium graveolens.

Species

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As of September 2024, Plants of the World Online accepts the following species:[1]

Former species

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Species formerly placed in this genus include:

Ecology

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Apium species, including garden celery, are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including angle shades, common swift, Hypercompe icasia, the nutmeg, setaceous Hebrew character and turnip moth.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Apium L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  2. ^ P.A. Stroh; T. A. Humphrey; R.J. Burkmar; O.L. Pescott; D.B. Roy; K.J. Walker, eds. (2020). "Wild Celery Apium graveolens L." BSBI Online Plant Atlas 2020. Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Apium prostratum". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.