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| ## american ginseng {#american-ginseng .Title-Header}                 |
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| *Panax quinquefolius* L.                                              |
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| Plant Symbol = PAQU                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center

### 

### Alternate Names

wild ginseng, sang

### Uses

*Ethnobotanic:* American ginseng was used by Menominee hunters, who
chewed the root to impart a lure to the breath and to attract deer. The
plant was used by Meskwaki women to obtain a husband. A mixture
consisted of ground ginseng, mica, gelatin, and snake meat. The Pawnee
also used ginseng roots in combination with certain other substances as
a love charm. The Ojibwe considered the root a good-luck charm if
carried in the pocket. Huron Smith (1932) recorded a potentially
sustainable way to harvest the roots among the Ojibwe. "They only
gathered the root when the red berries were mature, but before they were
ready to drop. Into the hole from whence the root came, they would
thrust the whole fruiting top, and carefully firm the soil upon it.
Knowing the location well, they would revisit the place in three to five
years and find more roots than they harvested in the first instance."
The roots were used in eyewash by the Iroquois to treat the sore eyes of
two-year-old children. The root could also be steeped in warm water and
drunk for alleviating sores on the body. The pulverized root was smoked
to treat asthma. Women of the Penobscot tribe took an infusion of the
root to increase fertility. The Delaware used the roots and other plant
parts as a general tonic. American ginseng is in high demand in the
United States and China as an herbal remedy. It is used for stress and
to increase energy and mental acuity in the United States. In China, it
is a panacea for sexual impotency, nervousness, vomiting, and dyspepsia.
![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.426388888888889in" height="4.3375in"}

### Status

In general, this species has been depleted by over-collecting for
commercial purposes. Many states, such as Maryland, have a permit
process instituted for collectors in the wild. Certain U.S. ports have
been designated by the USDA, APHIS as ports through which ginseng can be
exported. The Canadian Museum of Nature (2000) considers it a species at
risk. Please consult the PLANTS web site and your State Department of
Natural Resources for this plant's current status.

### Description

*General:* Ginseng Family (Araliaceae). This aromatic herbaceous
perennial has once palmately compound leaves arranged in a single whorl.
The leaves are oblong-obovate to obovate, 6-15 cm, and conspicuously
serrate. The stems are solitary, 2-6 dm, and with one flower umbel per
stem. The flowers are greenish-white, all or mostly perfect. There are
two styles and five stamens. The fruits are berry-like, bright red
drupes, 1 cm thick.

### Distribution

For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site. This plant is now considered rare and
collection in the wild is either prohibited or strictly regulated in the
states in which it is found. Most regulations allow digging only in
autumn, after ginseng seeds have dropped. It is found in rich woods from
Quebec to Minnesota and South Dakota to Georgia and occurs in Louisiana
and Oklahoma. It grows in full shade underneath deciduous hardwood
species.

### Establishment

Ginseng is widely cultivated in the U.S., Canada, and China. In natural
conditions, the seed may take two or three years to germinate and the
plant three to four years to produce seed. The root takes at least three
to four years before it is ready to harvest (Sadler 1999). Detailed
growing instructions are available from Michigan State University
Extension (1996).

*Propagation by seeds*: Fruits should be collected when they are red,
usually August or September. Seeds can be separated from the pulp and
sown fresh in the fall in flats. If stored, they should be stored moist.
If buying seed, soak it in a 10 percent bleach solution for 20 minutes
and rinse before sowing to kill any fungus spores that may have come
along with them. After a 3-fingered leaf emerges in the spring,
transplant each of these in bunches of 3 to deep pots. They will be
ready to plant outside the following fall. Plant the plants in full
shade under deciduous trees in a well-drained soil and keep them moist.
Wild American ginseng is typically found in calcium rich forest soils
well supplied with organic matter.

### Management

If American ginseng has been planted in an acid soil, apply dolomite
every fall to heighten the plant's vigor and color. Hand weed around the
plants.

### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

This species is generally available from those nurseries that specialize
in herbs. Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service
(formerly Soil Conservation Service) office for more information. Look
in the phone book under "United States Government." The Natural
Resources Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading
"Department of Agriculture."

### References

Beyfuss, R.L. 1999. *American ginseng production in woodlots*.
Agroforestry Notes 14. USDA, Forest Service and USDA, Natural Resources
Conservation Service. USDA, National Agroforestry Center, East
Campus-UNL, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Bourne, J. 2000. *On the trail of the 'sang poachers*. Audubon
102:2(84-91).

Canadian Museum of Nature 2000. *Species at risk in Canada: American
ginseng*. Version: 000504. \<http://www.nature.ca/english/ginseng.htm\>.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Crosby, M.R. 2000. *Ginseng*. IN: Microsoft® Encarta® Online
Encyclopedia 2000. \<http://encarta.msn.com\>. Microsoft Corporation,
Redmond, Washington.

Cullina, W. 2000. *Growing and propagating wildflowers of the United
States and Canada*. The New England Wild Flower Society Guide. Houghton
Mifflin Company, New York.

Gilmore, M.R. 1932. *Some Chippewa uses of plants*. Papers of the
Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters 17:119-143.

Gilmore, M.R. 1977. *Uses of plants by the Indians of the Missouri River
region.* University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Gleason, H.A. & A. Cronquist 1991. *Manual of vascular plants of
northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada.* Second Edition. The New
York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.

Gupton, O.W. & F.C. Swope 1982. *Wildflowers of Tidewater Virginia*.
University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. 208 pp.

Herrick, J.W. 1995. *Iroquois medical botany.* Syracuse University
Press, Syracuse, New York.

Michigan State University Extension 1996. *Growning ginseng*. Home
Horticulture. \<http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod03/03900053.html\>.
East Lansing, Michigan.

Moerman, D.E. 1998 *Native American ethnobotany.* Timber Press,
Portland, Oregon.

Phillips, H.R. 1985 *Growing and propagating wild flowers.* The
University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Sadler, T. 1999. *Ginseng in Australia*. The Australian New Crops
Newsletter, No. 11.
\<http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/newslett/ncn11167.htm \>.

Smith, H.H. 1923. *Ethnobotany of the Menomini*. Bulletin of the Public
Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:1(8-175).

Smith, H.H. 1928*. Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki*. Bulletin of the Public
Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:2(175-326).

Smith, H.H. 1928*. Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki*. Bulletin of the Public
Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:2(175-326).

Smith, H.H. 1932*. Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe*. Bulletin of the Public
Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:3(327-525).

Speck, F.G. 1917*. Medicine practices of the Northeastern Algonquians.*
Proceedings of the 19^th^ International Congress of Americanists*,* pp.
303-321.

Tantaquidgeon, G. 1972. *Folk medicine of the Delaware and related
Algonkian Indians.* Pennsylvania Historical Commission Anthropological
Papers, Number 3. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

USDA, NRCS 2000. *The PLANTS database*. Version: 000504.
\<http://plants.usda.gov\>. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.

Vestal, P.A. & R.E. Schultes. 1939. *The economic botany of the Kiowa
Indians as it relates to the history of the tribe.* Botanical Museum,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Voss, E. 1985. *Michigan flora. Part II. Dicots
(Saururaceae-Cornaceae)*. Bulletin 59. Cranbrook Institute of Science
and University of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 724 pp.

Williams, L. & J.A. Duke 1978. *Growing ginseng*. Farmers\' Bulletin No.
2201. USDA, Science and Education Administration, Washington, D.C.

### Prepared By

*M. Kat Anderson & J. Scott Peterson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

### Species Coordinator

*M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of California,
Davis, California

Edited 05dec00 jsp; 29may03 ahv; 060802 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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