Mountain celery

Mountain celery

　　Mountain celery is a perennial herb that can grow up to 1 meter tall. The upper part of the stem branches repeatedly in a forked pattern. The basal and lower stem leaves have petioles, which are flat and about 30 cm long; the leaf blades are nearly round, usually with three lobes and rarely five, the central lobe being wedge-shaped and obovate, while the lateral lobes each have a deep notch, and the edges are doubly serrated. The stem leaves gradually become smaller, almost sessile, and usually have three lobes. The inflorescence is forked in two to three orders, with lateral branches spreading outward and the central branches shorter. The involucre is pinnately divided, about 8 mm long; the bracteoles are inversely lanceolate or linear, about 1.5 mm long; there are 2–3 rays, and the small umbels bear 8–10 flowers; the flowers are yellowish-white, with 5–7 staminate flowers that have pedicels, and 3–4 pistillate flowers that are sessile. The fruit is globular and ovoid, 5 cm long and 4 cm wide, with notched calyx teeth at the apex, erect fruit spines that hook at the tips, slightly swollen at the base, the transverse section of the mericarp nearly round, the ventral side of the endosperm slightly concave, with five oil tubes, or only two large and prominent ones at the commissural surface. Flowering occurs in April.

It is found in mountainous areas throughout the province, growing in grassy underbrush in forests; it is also distributed across the northeastern, eastern, and central-southern provinces of China.

The whole herb is used medicinally and can treat bites from venomous snakes.