Tucked into the display on the wall behind the bar is a set of framed and laminated leaves. Above the large specimen is a lesser but still remarkable five-prong. The display speaks to the high status accorded to ginseng in life and thought on Coal River. In 1994, the most recent year for which figures are available, the state of West Virginia exported 18,698 dry pounds of wild ginseng root from its fifty-five counties. There are more diggers there because of the culture.
People there grow up gathering herbs and digging roots.
Of nineteen states authorized to export wild ginseng, West Virginia came in second, behind Kentucky, which certified 52,993 pounds. Tennessee came in third, with 17,997 pounds. In 1994 these three contiguous states certified more than half of the 178,111 pounds of wild ginseng reported among nineteen states. 2 NEXT Detail from Ginseng plant with berries in fall. Lyntha Scott Eiler.