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Indian Celery
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Indian Celery grows from sea level to moderately high elevations, on all of Vancouver Island. It is usually found in dry, sunny sites. The soil can be sterile sand or clay or any really poor growing ground, Indian celery will grow anywhere's.
Indian Celery is a very common looking plant.This plant is relatively unknown to western gardeners, although, Indian Celery was well known to the first peoples of Vancouver Island. In early spring its tender, nutritious young greens are a tasty treat. They are edible raw or cooked.
Indian Celery tastes like the store bought celery, the two plants are related.
Some first nations depended on this plant as a staple crop, harvesting tons of roots for storage. In particular, the people of the Columbia River were intimately acquainted with it. Spring greens were used for salads, roots yielded bulk carbohydrates.
They are a gray or blue green color, like many desert or seashore plants, and are rather plain looking, combining a graceful elegance of foliage with a short thick bush.
Other names for these plants include Indian Consumption Plant, Pestle Parsnip, Desert Parsley, and Hog Fennel.
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