The root lives for many years, even though the stem and foliage die back to ground level at the end of each growing season. Ginseng has been a major component in traditional Oriental medicine for over 4000 years. Its earliest written reference, Shen Nung's Materia Medica, dates at around AD l96. Ginseng is widely used as a medicinal herb in Tibet, Manchuria, China and Korea, and it's efficaciousness as a tonic has ensured its virtual extinction as a wild plant. These two 'cousin plants' vary primarily due to climatic and growing conditions but both contain active ingredients called ginsenosides.
American ginseng is one of the world's best kept secrets.
Ginseng has been traditionally known as an Asian herb, so many people are surprised to learn that it is also a native American plant. In fact, nearly all the world's supply of wild ginseng is located in the United States. Ginseng cultivation has become a reclusive multi-million dollar business in North America. In 1982, the government of British Columbia in Canada, successfully trialled ginseng as a crop in the arid reaches of the Fraser River Valley. In 1995, the combined USA and Canadian production exceeded 2.5 million kilograms.