American ginseng is a perennial herb, growing from a fleshy root. A single stem arises from the rootstock.
There are usually 3 leaves, which are palmately compound and occur in a whorl at the top of the single plant stem. Each compound leaf has 3 to 5 leaflets, which are are toothed and 2 to 5 inches long.
Small, non-showy, greenish-white flowers develop on a stalk arising from the base of the whorl of leaves.
Flowers May–July.
A cluster of red berries is produced in middle to late summer or early fall.
Similar species: A related species, dwarf ginseng (P. trifolius), grows in the northeast United States but not in Missouri.
Height: to about 20 inches.
Scattered in the Ozark and Ozark Border Divisions; scattered to uncommon in the rest of the state. Apparently absent from most of the Mississippi Lowlands, Unglaciated Plains, and portions of the Glaciated Plains.
Habitat and Conservation
Occurs in hardwood forests on shady, well-drained, north- and east-facing slopes in predominantly porous, humus-rich soils, and often in ravines.
This species is long valued as a medicinal plant, particularly overseas. Thus 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 ginseng in the forest ecosystem.
More than 90 percent of Missouri's commercial harvest comes from wild plants. Because unlimited harvests have made ginseng decline or disappear in many places, harvest in some states is illegal. Please see Wild Ginseng Harvest Regulations.
Status
Native Missouri wildflower.
A commercially harvested species whose trade is regulated internationally and under the Wildlife Code of Missouri.
The regulations aim to prevent overcollecting and to time the harvest so that the plants can reproduce (for their fruits to mature) before collection.
Human Connections
Commercial harvesting is regulated, and there is an official collecting season for ginseng harvest; consult the current Wildlife Code of Missouri. Diggers can help by squeezing the seeds from fruits into the hole left after the root is excavated.
Highly valued in Chinese herbal medicine, American ginseng root is dried and shipped overseas, where it is traditionally drunk as a tea. Recently, it has been put into a variety of other products as well.
Oddly, most ginseng products sold in our country are made from Asian ginseng.
Ecosystem Connections
In addition to humans, who have shown a pattern of overharvesting this plant, deer and other forest herbivores also consume American ginseng.
Other threats to its survival include fragmentation and disruption of its habitat by human suburban and agricultural development.
Relatives: Other members of the ginseng family that are native or naturalized include English ivy, wild sarsaparilla, American spikenard, and Hercules' club. None are likely to be confused with American ginseng.
