Celery
Apium graveolens
Found in disturbed areas, escaped or persisting from cultivation. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
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Not native
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 1.5–3 feet
- Spread
- 1–1.5 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual, biennial or perennial
- Bloom
- June to July
- Fruiting season
- July to August
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Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 2 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
25CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Apium
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Anagrapha falciferaCelery Looper Moth
- Argyrotaenia ivanaIvana Leafroller Moth
- Choristoneura obsoletanaObsolete Leafroller
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Condica sutorThe Cobbler, Cobbler Groundling
- Feltia herilisMaster's Dart
- Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
- Feltia subgothicaSubgothic Dart
Show all 25
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Loxostege cereralisAlfafa Webworm
- Nomophila nearcticaLucerne Moth, American Celery Webworm
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Papilio polyxenesBlack Swallowtail, Celery Caterpillar, Fennel Worm, Desert Black Swallowtail, Parsnip Swallowtail
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Spoladea recurvalisHawaiian Beet Webworm
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Apiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–6b
- Soil pH
- Neutral
- Flower color
- Green or white
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- August
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–6b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1.5–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Annual, biennial or perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “1–1.5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

