Plants that start with C

Celery is a plant that grows to be about 1 metre high. It is green and leafy with thick stems and a large root bulb under the ground. In some countries the root is cooked and eaten, but in most countries only the stem of the celery is used. Celery is used mostly cooked in soups and raw in salads.

The chili pepper, also spelt chilli, is a small fruit that ranges in colour from green to yellow to red, the most common. The chili is very hot, and when you eat one it feels like your mouth is burning. Chilis are in the same family as the capsicum (bell pepper).

Citrus are any trees, or the fruit of any trees in the citrus genus. This includes such trees as oranges, lemons, grapefruit and limes.

The coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm. Coconut palms grow in tropical areas of the world along beaches. They like warm weather, regular rain and high humidity, which is why they grow well in the tropics. You eat the flesh inside the coconut fruit, but there are many, many uses for the rest of the coconut palm. There are too many to list here, but they include: making rope and doormats from the outer shell of the nut; making bowls from the inner shell; and building houses from the trunk and branches of the palm tree. Coconut is used in many different ways in a wide variety of foods. One you might recognise is simply dried, grated, and stuck to the outside of a lamington!

Coriander, also called Chinese Parsley, is a soft, fast-growing annual herb - it lives for a year or less. It is very easy to grow from its big, round seeds. It is best planted in early Spring, and again in Autumn in warmer areas. In warm weather it will go to seed very fast so it is best to plant it in a cool, sheltered spot. Coriander leaves are is used fresh in a lot of Asian - particularly Thai, Middle Eastern and African cooking. It is also used in some South American dishes. Both the fresh leaves and the dried seed, powdered or whole, are used in cooking. Ground coriander seed is one of the main ingredients in curry powders and mixed spice. Coriander is also used to flavour cakes, cooked fruits and cookies and goes very well with chicken, fish and vegetable dishes. Coriander is though to help digestion and is useful in treating colic.