Parsley or garden parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a species

of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean

region naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb,
a spice, and a vegetable.

Parsley is widely used in Middle Eastern, European, and American cooking.

Curly leaf parsley is often used as a garnish. In central and eastern Europe
and in western Asia, many dishes are served with fresh green chopped
parsley sprinkled on top. Root parsley is very common in central and eastern
European cuisines, where it is used as a snack or a vegetable in many
soups, stews, and casseroles.
Where it grows as a biennial, in the first year, it forms a rosette of trippinate
leaves 10-25cm long with numerous 1-3cm leaflets, and a taproot used as a
food store over the winter. In the second year, it grows a flowering stem to
75cm tall with sparser leaves and flat-topped 3-10 cm diameter umbels with
numerous 2mm diameter yellow to yellowish-green flowers. The seeds are
ovoid, 2-3mm long, with prominent style remnants at theapex. One of the
compounds of the essential oil is apiol. The plant normally dies after seed
maturation.