How do I find and identify ginseng?

Ginseng hunters, or ‘seng hunters, are a unique and unfortunately a dieing breed.

——

There are many plants in the mountains with medicinal properties which naturally give the plants monetary value. Ginseng has always been at the top of the list in terms of value.

As a teenager I was always anxious for the fall of the year mainly because of ginseng. Like most kids I got an allowance but it was nothing compared to the money I could get from harvesting and selling ginseng.

I was taught how to find ginseng by being given a plant to carry with me in the woods for a visual reference. Being able to identify ginseng, however, is only half of the challenge. Knowing where to look is the other half.

Ginseng is a picky grower. In that I mean for the plant to thrive the conditions have to be near-perfect. Dark wet hollows or the sides of mountains, north slope, getting the least amount of sun through the day are best for ginseng.

Being able to identify a couple of other plants like black cohosh and stinging nettle can help the novice ‘seng hunter identify suitable habitat for ginseng. Both of those plants thrive under the same conditions but are not as picky as ginseng meaning usually there are a lot of those plants.

On the flip side, the side of a mountain, south slope, with a lot of mountain laurel or briar thickets is not a good place for ginseng to grow, it’s too dry. Depending on the local wildlife ginseng can be found on the dry side of the mountain but it is sparse and generally too small to harvest.

Once you learn to identify ginseng habitat, you have to find the plant.

I have taken many people out ‘senging and the one thing repeated by nearly everyone unfamiliar with ginseng, “it looks like so many other plants.” Unfortunately this is true but only up to a point.

Ginseng grows as a single stalk with prongs/branches attached to the top of the stalk. Each prong has three to five leaflets attached to the end of it. The plant grows on average from ground level to about three feet tall. The size of the plant is dependent on age and location. As a general rule, not necessarily the law, the older the plant the more prongs it will have. The most common harvest-able ginseng are three and four prongs with five prongs or more becoming rare.

Ginseng has a few unique characteristics that make it stand out from the crowd. The first is that in August through September most adult plants have a bright red berry pod on a stem in the center of the plant. I’ve always said it was easy to see red in a sea of green. In other words, when the berries are ripe don’t look for ginseng… look for red.

I have only encountered one other plant in West Virginia that has a similar berry pod and ripe at the same time as ginseng and that is Indian Turnip (Jack-in-the-Pulpit). The similarities are only from a distance and it has to do with the red in a sea of green. Most likely if you see a bright red berry pod near the ground its going to be ginseng. Indian turnip is a rare find anymore, at least in this area.

Another distinguishing characteristic of ginseng is the leaf structure. Although there are a few plants similar in leaf structure, on closer inspection ginseng has a trait none of the other plants have. Each leaf on a ginseng plant has its own stem connecting it to the prong. Every other plant that looks similar to ginseng doesn’t have that. On those, the leaves connect directly to the prong, no stem.

One plant that has been known to fool this ‘seng hunter into a closer inspection a time or two is not actually a plant at all but a buckeye tree sapling. When they are about a foot and a half tall they are similar to ginseng but again only from a distance. Like the other plants similar in appearance to ginseng the leaves on the buckeye sapling connect directly to the prong without using a stem.

The color of a ginseng plant is also telling. Though looking for it for the first time based on its color is most likely a wasted endeavor. Ginseng plants are a soft dull, hard to describe, kind of green. It is different from most other plants in the woods. Even though the color is unique to the ginseng plant, the new hunter would have to find a few of them before the difference becomes distinguishable.

The exception to that is late in the year right before ginseng dies out for the season. It is during this time that ginseng really reveals itself to the ‘seng hunter.

A few weeks before the plant dies every leaf on it turns a distinct pale yellow color making them easy to spot by even the most inexperienced ginseng hunter.

If you do go ‘senging and you are a first-timer, print out a photo of the plant and take it with you. Finding just a couple of them on your own will greatly improve your ability to spot ginseng without a visual aid which in turn makes the whole ‘seng hunting experience more enjoyable. Once you get to where you can spot it unassisted you will find that there is truly no other plant in the mountains quite like ginseng.

——

In some areas the ginseng plant is becoming endangered due to over-harvesting and habitat depletion. Ginseng diggers are constantly encouraged to abide by all laws, leave young seedlings and plant mature seed.

A good practice to get into is if you dig a stalk of ginseng that still has the berries on it, remove those and plant them in the hole you dug.

Harvesting of “wild” ginseng is legal but only during a specific season defined by your state (West Virginia , Sept. 1 thru Nov. 30). It is also illegal to dig ginseng for export if the plant is less than 10 years old (CITES regs). The season is usually the autumn months and requires you to be aware of other federal regulations for harvesting on their lands. Currently, 18 states issue licenses to export ginseng.

———

Photos best viewed in high definition!!

———

When one tugs at a single thing in nature; he finds it attached to the rest of the world.