GINSENG, AMERICAN. Panax quinquefoliyin, Linn. Araliaccw. Figs. 506-510.
Ginseng is a small perennial herb, the thickened roots of which are used medicinally by the Chinese and Koreans. Although long known in China, the plant was first described and named botanically from North American specimens by in 1753, as Panax quinquefolium. In 1813 the Chinese plant was separated by C. A. Meyer as Panax Ginseng. Later, these plants were trans ferred to the genus Aralia as A. quinquefolia, Decne. & Planch., and A. Ginseng, Ban By some authorities the oriental P. Ginseng is considered to be only a geographical form of one cosmopolitan species, P. quinquefgliuna. The word ginseng is said to signify "man plant" in the Chinese; and the roots are apparently employed on the old doctrine of signatures, which assumes that plant forms resembling human organs, are specifics for the ills of those organs: and, as the roots of ginseng often resemble the form of a man, they are therefore specific for the ills of man.
When the plant is old enough to produce fruit it is rather conspicuous and is easily recognized, but until three or four years old it is not usually very promi nent. The seedlings at first somewhat resemble newly sprouted beans, in that they send up two cotyledons, and from between them a stem with two minute leaves. These enlarge until the plant has at tained its first sea son's growth (about two inches). The work of the plant during the first year is to develop the bud at the crown of the root, which is to produce the next season's stem and leaves. In autumn the stem dies and breaks off, leaving a scar, at the side of which is the solitary bud. In the spring of the second year this bud produces a straight, erect stem, at the top of which the one to three branch like stalks of the compound leaves appear. Three to eight leaflets are developed, which usually rise not more than fonr inches from the ground. The third year eight to fifteen leaflets may be put forth, and the plant may attain a height of eight inches. In succeeding years the plant may produce three, sometimes four or even five leaf- stalks three or four inches long, each bearing five thin leaflets palmately arranged, two of them an inch or two long, the remainder three or four inches, egg-shaped in outline, with the broad end away from the stem, abruptly pointed and saw-toothed.
At a point where the leaf-stalks meet, the main axis is continued into an erect flower-stalk, two to five inches long, bearing in early July, or in late June, a number of inconspicuous, yellowish green flowers. These are soon followed by the_ fruit, which develops rapidly, remaining green until the middle of August, when it begins to turn red, becoming scarlet and ripe in September. The ber ries, which have the taste of the root, are the size and shape of small wax beans, and contain two or occasionally three seeds each. No seed is pro duced the first year, and only an occasional berry on extra strong plants in the garden in the second season. It is only the third season that the plants produce seed in any quantity. Plants in cultivated beds produce more freely than those in the forest.
History.
American ginseng was discovered near Montreal, Canada, in 1716, by Father Laftau, a missionary among the Iroquois Indians. Soon the French began collecting it, through the Indians, for export to China. The demand thus created was so large that ginseng presently became an important article of commerce in Canada. It was not until 1750 that ginseng was found in the more southern colonies of New England. In 1751 it was found in central New York and at Stockbridge, Mass. It was also found plentifully in Vermont at the time of the settlement of that state.
Ginseng in its wild state grew abundantly in the hard-wood forests of a large part of the United States, and was dug in quantities sufficient to sup ply several hundred thousand pounds of the dried or prepared root each season. In the past few years the supply of forest root has greatly dimin ished, the result of so many persona being engaged in hunting for ginseng in the summer months and the vast extent of timber land that has been cleared for pasture. The early collectors gathered only such roots as they thought had grown to mar ketable size, but in the past twenty years practically no attention has been given to the age or size. Digging the root before the seed had an opportun ity to ripen contributed much to the almost total extinction of the forest root, with the result that the garden cultivation of ginseng has been largely engaged in to supply the Chinese markets.