BackgroundHuman-guided crop domestication has lasted for more than 10,000 years. In terms of the domestication and breeding of vegetables, cellulose content in edible tissues is one of the most important traits.Primulina eburneais a recently developed calcium-rich vegetable with a high soluble and bioavailable calcium content in its leaves. However, the high cellulose content in the leaves hampers the taste, and no research has been reported on the genetic basis of cellulose biosynthesis in this calcium-rich vegetable.ResultsWe identified 36 cellulose biosynthesis-involved genes belonging to eight gene families in theP. eburneagenome. The cellulose accumulated decreasingly throughout leaf development. Nineteen genes were considered core genes in cellulose biosynthesis, which were highly expressed in buds but lowly expressed in mature leaves. In the nitrogen fertilization experiment, exogenous nitrogen decreased the cellulose content in the buds. The expressing pattern of 14 genes were consistent with phenotypic variation in the nitrogen fertilization experiment, and thus they were proposed as cellulose toolbox genes.ConclusionsThe present study provides a strong basis for the subsequent functional research of cellulose biosynthesis-involved genes inP. eburnea, and provides a reference for breeding and/or engineering this calcium-rich vegetable with decreased leaf cellulose content to improve the taste.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-023-04266-z.