Smallage?

A few years ago, while browsing a local nursery's herb offerings, I happened upon a plant labeled merely 'French Celery'. A fan of celery in general, and always keen to grow an unusual edible in my garden, I brought it home to see what it would do.

Before long, I had a nice clump of dark green, lacy leaves. I sampled the stems, but they seemed too tough to be palatable. But the leaves were sort of like an Italian flat-leaved parsley, but with a different flavor.

I did some research and found that it is indeed the leaves (and not the stems) that are used.

I also found out that the latin name is Apium graveolens L. var. secalinum Alef. It has been grown long before what we know of as celery today - bred for thicker, more bland stalks (and often blanched white like endive). Some of the common names that have been assigned to this are: smallage, leaf celery, cutting celery, céleri à couper (FR), céleri petit (FR), sedano da taglio (IT), apio de cortar (ES). Apparently the etymology of the name 'celery' goes thus - céleri (FR) << seleri (IT) << selinon (Late Latin) << a transliteration of σέλινον (GR), which is the word for 'parsley'.

I found the addition of chopped leaves to soups very pleasing, but my wife thought it a bit strong (she's also not a big parsley fan), so when I do use it, it is sparingly.

The largest fan of this plant has turned out to be our cat, Mia! She took little notice of the plant for the longest time, it being planted in a bed slightly behind some other plants. When it began to flower, the elongated stems began to flop forward under their own weight and onto the pathway in front. Mia started making a habit of rubbing on the flower heads and forming seeds. It was like catnip (Nepeta cataria) to her! I can find no reference anywhere about cats being attracted to this plant like they are to catnip, so perhaps this is merely Mia's own predilection.

It is now generally known as 'Mia's plant' when it pops up here and there (is self-seeds modestly). It is especially fond of cracks in concrete, which we find helps soften the large amount of hard surface we have in the garden. We allow it to grow for our feline's fancy, though I still use it in cooking from time to time.