Requires a deep moist fertile soil in dappled shade or full sun. Plants are reliably perennial if they are prevented from setting seed.

Young shoots and leaf stalks - raw or cooked. When boiled in two lots of water they form a vegetable that strongly resembles celery. They can be peeled and eaten in salads or blanched and cooked like asparagus. The stems can also be candied and used as a sweetmeat. Root, leafstalks and stems - candied.

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe since the seed only has a short viability. Seed can also be sown in the spring, though germination rates will be lower. It requires light for germination. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in the spring. The seed can also be sow in situ as soon as it is ripe.

Rich thickets, bottomlands and swamps.