Panax quinquefolium L.
Researcher: Chip Carroll

Common Names: American Ginseng, American Ginseng Root, Sang, Shang, Five Fingers, Tartar Root, Red Berries, Mans Health, Ren Shen, Mandrake Root, Seng.  

Genus: Panax

Family: Araliaceae – Ginseng Family

Synonyms: Panax quinquefolius,  
Panax quinquefolium

Relatives: Panax ginseng - Chinese/Korean Ginseng, Panax japonicus - Japanese Ginseng, Panax pseudoginseng - Himalayan Ginseng, Panax trifolius -
Dwarf Ginseng, Panax vietnamensis - Vietnamese Ginseng, Panax vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus

Duration: Perennial, long-lived

Habit: Herb

Height: 1-2 Feet


Leaves on a 4 prong ginseng plant
Rural Action Stock Photo

Leaves: Palmately compound, divided
into 4-5 (occasionally 3-7) sharp-toothed, oblong-lance-shaped leaflets.

Flowers: Whitish, non-descript in round umbels; June-July


Ginseng Berries
Rural Action Stock Photo

Fruit: 2-Seeded berries, sometimes one, three or four seeded, green turning to red
in late summer to fall Autumn 


Mature Ginseng root— Rural Action Stock Photo

Roots: Fleshy.  White to tan, yellowish
with concentric wrinkles or rings on the outside of the root, highly variable depending on soil and growing conditions.  Can grow
in a variety of shapes and sizes from bulbous, spindle shaped, spider like to stick or carrot like.  The Rhizome at the top of the root,
also commonly referred to as the “neck” shows annual scars left by the abscission of the previous year’s stalk.  The approximate age of the root can be determined by
counting these scars.  The root has been sought after for its alleged medicinal value since before European settlement of North America.

Habitat:  Woodlands with Dappled to
deep Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade.

Associations: Grows in a wide range of
soil types and textures from sandy loams to clay loams, from highly acidic to neutral pH (range 3.6 to7.6), grows within an extremely wide range of macronutrients usually with
high levels of calcium.  Commonly
associated tree species include (not limited to); Sugar Maple, Tulip Poplar, Black Walnut, Butternut, White Ash. Associated shrubs include Spice Bush, Paw Paw, Red berried elderberry. Associated herbs
include Goldenseal, Maidenhair Fern, Rattlesnake Fern, Black Cohosh,
Baneberry, Blue Cohosh, Trilliums,
Stinging Nettle, Foamflower, Herb Robert, Jewelweed, Christmas Fern & Bloodroot.   

Native Range: Native.  American ginseng
is found in the wild throughout the
woodlands of eastern North America from southern Canada to central Alabama and
from theeast coast to just west of the Mississippi River.  Widely cultivated in
almost every other state except for the
deep south.

History/culture: It would be hard to find another North American woodland plant species with more history and culture than American Ginseng.  Native Americans; long before European colonization, used
American Ginseng medicinally and ceremonially.  Closely related Asian ginseng (P.ginseng) has documented medicinal use dating back more than 5000 years in Asia.  There are mentions of ginseng use during the Qin and Han dynasties, 221 BC - 220 AD.  A report of the high estimation in which this plant was held in China reached Europe
early in the eighteenth century.  As a result inquiries began as to whether it grew in the forests of North America (Nash 1898).
In North America, American Ginseng really began to gain popularity after a Jesuit Priest, Father Lafitau discovered the plant growing
in 1716 near Montreal, Canada.  Soon afterwards the French began collecting this plant through the agency of the Native Americans for export to China.  Demand for the root soared, and many made their
fortunes exporting this root from North America in the 1700’s. There is evidence
that sales of American ginseng roots helped
to finance the American Revolution.

Even Daniel Boone benefited greatly from
this herb, exporting twelve tons of it in 1788, after losing nearly the same amount on a capsized riverboat traveling down the Ohio River to Philadelphia the year before. 
By the mid 1800’s, the species began to be cultivated in earnest both in natural forests from Appalachia to Canada and also using wooden lath houses to provide the required shade.  Today, American Ginseng is still widely sought after for export to Asia where 90%-95% of all wild and wild-simulated ginseng is marketed.  American Ginseng is widely cultivated throughout the world today.  Within it’s native range, thousands of landowners continue to grow this valuable herb for market in their woodlands.  The
root is also still sought after and harvested
out of the wild in many areas. The vast majority of cultivated ginseng root (90%) is grown utilizing conventional agricultural systems in central Wisconsin (500 to 800 acres) and Ontario, Canada (3,500 acres) where it is grown in raised beds under
artificial shade.  The value of ginseng produced under these intensive cultivation systems ranges from $12-25/Lb.

Truly wild or high quality (wild looking) wild-simulated ginseng sold for prices ranging
from $250 to $500 per pound in 2005.

By the mid 1800’s, the species began to be cultivated in earnest both in natural forests from Appalachia to Canada and also using wooden lath houses to provide the required shade.  Today, American Ginseng is still widely sought after for export to Asia where 90%-95% of all wild and wild-simulated ginseng is marketed.  American Ginseng is widely cultivated throughout the world today.  Within it’s native range, thousands of landowners continue to grow this valuable herb for market in their woodlands.  The root is also still sought after and harvested out of the wild in many areas. The vast majority of cultivated ginseng root (90%) is grown utilizing conventional agricultural systems in central Wisconsin (500 to 800 acres) and Ontario, Canada (3,500 acres) where it is grown in raised beds under artificial shade.  The value of ginseng produced under these intensive cultivation systems ranges from $12-25/Lb.

Truly wild or high quality (wild looking) wild-simulated ginseng sold for prices ranging from $250 to $500 per pound in 2005.

Age, shape, smell, color, taste, weight and other physical characteristics greatly determine the value of American Ginseng root.  Generally speaking, the older the root, the more valuable it is.  Certain roots with unique characteristics can sell for outrageous amounts of money.  For this reason, most ginseng growers try to grow roots that are virtually indistinguishable from those harvested from the wild.  Growers try to mimic nature as much as possible producing what has become known widely as “wild-simulated” ginseng, which often sells for the going rate of wild roots.

Ginseng is currently listed on CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) as an Appendix II species.  Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.  The export and trade of the ginseng is closely monitored by the USFWS (United States Fish and Wildlife Service) to ensure that the species continues to flourish throughout its range.  States that allow export of ginseng must have a conservation program with a specific harvesting season and a set of rules and regulations that govern the harvest and sale of this species. 

Pests/diseases: Although American Ginseng does not seem to be greatly impacted by disease in the wild, it does, under cultivation become susceptible to a wide variety of fungal diseases including Alternaria, Boytritis & Phytophtora as well as other various root-rot and rusty root pathogens.  In the wild, recent studies have shown that white-tailed deer predation may be cause for concern with wild ginseng populations.  Increased deer populations have led to increased browsing of the ginsengs foliage which, if browsed for several years consecutively can lead to a weakened plant or even mortality.  Perhaps one of the biggest threats to ginseng is from development of its natural habitat.   

Other threats: Because of its high monetary value, ginseng has become a plant that is often poached or stolen from both public and private lands.  Ginseng theft from private lands is becoming more common as more people begin to grow it on their land.  Ginseng has historically been harvested from many areas which are now either publicly or privately owned.  Published studies from West Virginia show a direct correlation between unemployment rates and ginseng harvest rates.  Ginseng has been depended upon for hundreds of years as a means to generate extra money for people of the region in times of need and will likely continue to be harvested for this purpose for many years to come.

Conservation status: The conservation status of ginseng varies widely throughout its range and is evaluated on a state-by-state basis every year.  There is great debate throughout the ginseng industry as to how “threatened” or “at-risk” American Ginseng really is.  Although wild populations of the species are thought to be nowhere near the historical populations’ sizes (pre-European settlement), this observation also applies to most all animal and plant species throughout North America.  Many will debate whether or not there even is any truly “wild” ginseng even left in North America.  Seeds were being distributed and sold throughout the 19th & 20th Centuries and continue to be today.  Recently, one individual North American ginseng grower sold 16,000 Lbs. of ginseng seed in one year! (6000-8000 seeds per Lb. that single sale could produce as many as 112,000,000 ginseng plants.)  If even 10% of these seeds produce saleable roots, the resulting harvest, at an average yield of 200 roots per pound dried weight, represents 56,000 pounds or close to 90% of the reported total harvest of wild ginseng in 2004.  There are dozens of seed dealers and sellers throughout the country and thousands of growers growing ginseng root for export.  A current problem is the inability for the regulatory agencies to distinguish truly wild ginseng root from “wild-simulated” – cultivated root.  Because much of the ginseng being grown in forestland throughout the Eastern United States is grown in the wild-simulated manner and appears to be wild, it is nearly impossible to monitor how much of the annual export is truly wild and how much is wild-simulated.  This is a problem that can lead to poor decision-making relating to the conservation of the species.  If the majority of what has been classified as wild ginseng is in fact cultivated the stringent harvest regulations as imposed by CITES which are applied to both wild and wild simulated (cultivated) are questionable since CITES is charged with protecting wild and not cultivated plants or animals. Other native North American plants of commercial interest such as blueberries, which exist both as wild and as cultivated are not encumbered by such regulations. CITES does recognize “artificially propagated” ginseng but the CITES definition of “artificially propagated” accurately describes “field cultivated” ginseng but does not come even remotely close to describing “wild simulated”.  Records may show a large quantity of “wild” ginseng being exported from a state when in reality a ginseng grower may have just harvested his wild-simulated crop and marketed it as “wild” since it clearly does not meet the definition of “artificially propagated”. The issue is further complicated by the fact that many ginseng growers continue to be very secretive about their growing operations in order to ensure that no one knows that they are growing this “green gold” in order to limit their risks of being poached.  They may also be secretive about the fact that they grew the ginseng for fear that the price may be reduced if it is known that it is in fact “cultivated”.  Even though ginseng is a legitimate agricultural crop (albeit non-traditional) it is a “niche” crop at best; consequently there is much less support for ginseng farmers from traditional agriculturally related agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) & many local farm bureaus.   Ginseng farmers in many cases have been left on their own to produce this valuable crop unassisted for over 100 years. Most growers do not seek government assistance but resent government interference as is imposed by USFWS through CITES.

Much more work and research needs to be done in order to provide solutions that ensure that ginseng continues to exist and even thrive in the wild while protecting the important cultural practices of harvesting and growing it.