The invention relates to a celery plant (Apium graveolens L. dulce) carrying a genetic determinant that leads to the absence or strong reduction of chlorophyll in the petioles, wherein said determinant is obtainable by introgression from a plant grown from seed of which a representative sample was deposited with the NCIMB under deposit number NCIMB 42428. The invention further relates to markers and the use of markers for the identification of a plant that has an absence or strong reduction of chlorophyll in the petioles. The invention also relates to seeds and other propagation material of the plant and to its progeny as well as to food products that comprise the consumable parts of the plant.