American ginseng

Did You Know?

• The seeds exhibit morphophysiological dormancy, requiring two full winters to germinate.
• Individuals taking anticoagulants like warfarin should avoid ginseng.
• The Seminole used it for gunshot wounds.

Description

Panax quinquefolius grows 6 to 18 inches tall and bears three compound leaves, each with three to five leaflets. Its aromatic root resembles a small, forking parsnip. It is sometimes confused with wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), but American ginseng has palmately compound leaves while wild sarsaparilla has pinnately compound leaves. Like Asian ginseng, it contains dammarane-type ginsenosides.

Taxonomy

Joseph-François Lafitau, a French Jesuit missionary, described the plant as Aureliana canadensis in 1718 after discovering it near Montreal with Iroquois assistance. The Iroquois called it garent-oguen, meaning 'resembles man' or 'a man's thigh'. Mark Catesby published an illustration in 1747. Carl Linnaeus validly named it Panax quinquefolium in 1753, later corrected to Panax quinquefolius. The specific epithet quinquefolius means 'five-leaved'. The genus name Panax derives from Greek 'Panakos' (panacea). The name ginseng comes from the Chinese term rénshēn.

Exploitation and conservation

Overharvesting soon depleted Quebec populations, and harvesting spread south. By the late 18th century, Albany, New York, was a trading center. In the 20th century, U.S. exports averaged about 580,000 kg per decade, dropping to about 250,000 kg per decade between 2000 and 2020. Panax quinquefolius is listed in CITES Appendix II. As of September 2022, 19 states and one tribe are authorized to export it. In Canada, it is listed as Endangered, and harvesting wild plants is prohibited. NatureServe rates it globally vulnerable (G3G4).

Cultivation

As wild populations declined in the late 19th century, cultivation began. George Stanton, a tinsmith, planted ginseng near Apulia Station, New York, in 1887, and is called the Father of the Cultivated Ginseng Industry. Clarence and Albert Hellyer pioneered cultivation in Norfolk County, Ontario, in the 1890s. Commercial crops are harvested 3 to 5 years after seeding under artificial shade; wild-simulated forest farming requires 6 to 10 years or more. In 2024, Canada led exports with 2,974,971 kg, followed by China, the United States, and South Korea.