American Ginseng |
| General |
| Common Name | American Ginseng |
| Latin Name | Panax quinquelfolius |
| Category | Medicinals |
| Family | Araliaceae |
| Variety | |
| Visual Traits |
| Flower | many in a terminal umbel |
| Foliage/Fall leaf color | bright golden-yellow fall color |
| Fruit | fleshy red berry, usually 2 seeded but occasionally one or three white colored seeds |
| Height | 3 inches (seedlings) to 24 inches, rarely taller mature plants |
| Other valued traits | medicinal use by many cultures, considered an adaptogen, attractive ornamental |
| Spread | 3 inches (seedlings) to 24 inches, rarely wider mature plants |
| Cultivation |
| Cultivation and Mulching | mulch with two inch layer of shredded sugar maple leaves |
| Field preparation and planting | hand till or shallow rottotill soil to 2 inch depth |
| Field spacing / planting depth | thin to one plant per square foot |
| Harvest | usually harvested at 7 to 10 years or older |
| Pollination | primarily self pollinated but some cross pollination by small bees |
| Propagation method | seeds only |
| Retail Source | several |
| Seed harvest | fall, when berries turn red, August to October |
| Seed treatment and storage | requires complex stratification, berries are usually depulped, mixed with coarse sand and buried for one year |
| Seedling treatment | protect from slugs |
| Sowing seed | fall planted in North, (September to November) up to February in south |
| Transplant | 2 year old and older roots easily transplanted after August |
| Watering guidelines | not usually watered in forest |
| Critters |
| Insect and invertebrate pests | slugs, gray aphids, cutworms, stinkbugs, |
| Pathogens | Phytophthora cactorum, Alternaria panax, Rhizoctonia,Cylindrocarpon, (rust complexes) |
| Toxicity | None |
| Wildlife Pests | deer are serious pests, as are voles |
| Soils |
| Compaction (tolerance) | some |
| Fertility / quality | low to moderate fertility |
| Minerals | high calcium requirement |
| Moisture and drainage | prefers moist but well drained |
| pH | wide range from 3.6 to 7.6 |
| Salt tolerance | none |
| Soils and topography | prefers mild to moderate slope, found midslope most often |
| Texture | wide range from sand to clay loams |
| Growth Pattern |
| Fruit bearing age / full crop load | varies with site from age 5 to age 10, full crop usually by age 10 |
| Good seed crop interval (fruit load) | annual if not eaten by critters |
| Growth rate | slow, somewhat site dependent |
| Longevity | potentially very long lived, up to 150 years or more |
| Root habit | perennial |
| Habitat and Climate |
| Exposure | north, northeast preferred |
| Fire tolerance | none |
| Frost-free days (FFD) | as few as 60 |
| Growing degree days (GDD) | wide range |
| Hardiness Zone | USDA Zones 3,4,5,6, |
| Native Range | northern Georgia to Southern Quebec, west to Wisconsin, northern Arkansas and Alabama |
| Rainfall / humidity | moderate 35 to 55 |
| Wind / ice / frost susceptibility | somewhat frost tolerant in fall, less so in early spring |
| Light |
| Light recommendation | requires 65 to 85% shade, optimal shade is in a mature sugar maple forest, 80% basal area |
| Shade tolerance | high, up to 90% shade tolerated |
| Vegetation Associations |
| Competitive ability | competes well with native plants poorly with exotics i.e garlic mustard |
| Indicator species | Maidenhair fern, rattlesnake fern, baneberry, blue cohosh (north). Goldenseal, black cohosh, bloodroot,spicebush (south). Competes well with most native plants, poorly with exotics ie.garlic mustard |