GINSENG. 



W. M. MUNSON. 



In response to numerous requests for information from the 

 Experiment Station upon the cultivation of ginseng as a business 

 venture, the following brief suggestions have been prepared : 



Ginseng is a native perennial plant having a thick, fleshy, 

 irregular root, and leaves somewhat resembling the common 

 sarsaparilla, to which it is quite closely related. Not infre- 

 quently specimens of sarsaparilla are sent for identification with 

 the hope that they will prove to be ginseng. Both species are 

 found in Maine, but sarsaparilla is the more common. The 

 mature plant of ginseng has a single stem 8 to 15 inches high 

 and about as thick as a lead pencil. At the top are five com- 

 pound leaves in a whorl, each resembling a leaf of the horse- 

 chestnut. The leaves usually have five leaflets, but on young or 

 weak plants, there may be but three. The single flower stalk, 

 rising above the leaves and bearing a small cluster of greenish- 

 white flowers followed by dark, purple berries, will help in dis- 

 tinguishing this plant from other similar ones. 



The seedlinsf roots 



resemble small pars- 

 nips, but the older 

 , ^ roots are usually 

 peculiarly branched 

 and in shape often 

 resemble the human 

 form. Two of the 

 mature roots are shown in figures 

 36 and 37. The name ginseng sig- 

 nifies ''man plant" and is applied 

 because of the fancied resemblance 

 suggested. The greater this resem- 

 blance, the higher the value placed upon the 

 root by the Chinese. It is seldom that the resem- 

 blance is so marked as in figure 37. 



^ 



Figure 36. 



