American Ginseng Plant Identification. According to the missouri department of conservation, the hardwood forests of eastern north america are home to wild american ginseng. Long valued as a medicinal plant, particularly overseas, wild and cultivated ginseng is an annual crop in the united states and canada valued in excess of $25 million, but overzealous collection is causing serious concern about the survival of american.
Because of its high price and increasing demand, there are many adulterants on the market. If you ever come across wild ginseng, planting those berries will help give the wild population a fighting chance. It has long been used for medicine, originally harvested by many different native american tribes and used in asian.
Since the 18th century, american ginseng (p.
The plant develops through a progression of life stages until reaching a mature state, usually between four to seven years after seed propagation. Identification of ginseng is the same for most species, once you. Since the 1700s, american ginseng has been recognized as a potentially important trade item. This last photo of ginseng demonstrates, once again, the palmately compound leaves and leaflets with petiolules in the fall — after the berries have dropped from the plant.