Celery the winners of the sacred Nemean Games was also made of celery. The Ancient Greek colony of Selinous (, "Selinous"), on Sicily, was named after wild parsley that grew abundantly there; Selinountian coins depicted a parsley leaf as the symbol of the city. The perennial BBC television series Doctor Who featured the Fifth Doctor (played by Peter Davison, from 1981–84), who wore a sprig of celery as a corsage. The name "celery" retraces the plant's route of successive adoption in European cooking, as the English "celery" (1664) is derived from the French "céleri" coming from the Lombard term, "seleri", from
Celery rot). During commercial harvesting, celery is packaged into cartons which contain between 36 and 48 stalks and weigh up to . Under optimal conditions, celery can be stored for up to seven weeks between . Inner stalks may continue growing if kept at temperatures above . Shelf life can be extended by packaging celery in anti-fogging, micro-perforated shrink wrap. Freshly cut petioles of celery are prone to decay, which can be prevented or reduced through the use of sharp blades during processing, gentle handling, and proper sanitation. Celery stalk may be preserved through pickling by first removing the leaves, then