CELERY 493 



ribs and more or less surrounded by a few or occasionally numerous, 

 sclerenchymatous fibers; inner epidermis of narrow, thin-walled, 

 elongated cells closely cohering to the brownish tabular cells of the 

 seed-coat; commissural surface usually with 2 large vittae, a very. few 

 stone cells and showing a slight separation of pericarp and seed-coat; 

 endosperm of polyhedral, thick- walled, parenchyma cells containing 

 an oily cytoplasm and numerous small aleurone grains, the latter 

 each usually containing a small rosette aggregate of calcium oxalate. 

 The vittse usually contain yellowish oil globules or a resin-like mass 

 adhering to the walls, and occasionally are divided by radial walls. 



Powder. Grayish-brown, mostly of large, irregular fragments; 

 cells of endosperm with aleurone grains, each usually containing a 

 rosette aggregate of calcium oxalate, from 0.003 to 0.007 mm. in 

 diameter; fragments with light yellow vittae and the yellowish- 

 brown cells of the pericarp; fragments with narrow spiral tracheae 

 and more or less lignified sclerenchymatous fibers. 



Constituents. Volatile oil, from 1 to 3 per cent, consisting of a 

 camphoraceous substance, apiol, and a terpene, probably 1-pinene; 

 a fixed oil, 6 per cent; resinous substances, 5 per cent; mucilage, 7 

 per cent; a fat, resembling stearic acid, 16.5 per cent; phyteumacolla, 

 combined with potassium salts, 12.5 per cent; protein substances, 

 combined with calcium phosphate, 3 per cent; crude fiber, 48.5 per 

 cent; ash, 4 to 6 per cent. 



Apiol is sometimes obtained from the fruit of the East Indian 

 dill, Anethum sowa, and consists of a body heavier than water, and is 

 apparently isomeric with the apiol from parsley oil. Dillapiol of 

 commerce is a mixture of substances extracted from parsley fruits 

 and occurs as a yellow, oily, non-volatile liquid. 



PETROSELINI RADIX. Garden or Common Parsley Root. 

 The fleshy roots of the Hamburg or turnip-rooted parsely, Petrose- 

 linum sativum, are sometimes cooked and eaten like parsnips. 

 They also have some medicinal value. The roots are fusiform, 

 resembling carrots, and are usually gathered in the fall and cut into 

 pieces to facilitate drying. The pieces are light yellowish, having a 

 short fracture when dry, and contain numerous yellowish or reddish- 

 brown oil secretion canals. The odor is aromatic, and the taste 

 sweetish and slightly pungent. It contains a small amount of vola- 

 tile oil; and an amorphous glucoside, known as apiin, which is soluble 

 in hot water and alcohol; also starch; and from 3 to 5 per cent 

 of ash. 



APII FRUCTUS. Celery Fruit or Celery Seed, The ripe fruit 

 of Apium graveolens (Fam. Umbelliferse), a biennial herb, indigenous 



