PI.AXTS FURNISHING ROOT DRUrjS. 49 



The American ^spikenard occurs in similar situations as iiudicaulits, but its 

 range extends somewliat farther south, Georgia being given as the southern 

 limit. 



The California spikenard [Aritliu (■ulifoiiika Wats.) may be used for the 

 same purposes as the other si)ecies. The i)lant is larger than Alalia rucemusa, 

 but otherwise is very much like it. The root is also larger than that of .1. 

 racemosa. 



tJlXSENc;. 



I'll It a. r (iiiinqiiefolimii L. 



Other vommaii names. — American ginseng, sang, red-berry, five-fingers. (PI. 

 V, fig. 3.) 



Habitat ami raiujv. — (Jinseug is a native of this country, its favorite haunts 

 being the rich, moist soil in hardwood forests from Maine to Minnesota .south- 

 ward to the mountains of northern Georgia and Arkansas. For some years 

 ginseng has been cultivated in small areas from central New York to Missouri. 



Description of plant. — (Jinseng is an erect perennial plant growing from 8 to 

 15 inches in height, and bearing three leaves at the summit, eaeh leaf consisting 

 of five thin, stalked, ovate leaflets, long pointed at the apex, rounded or nar- 

 rowed at the base, the margins toothed; the three upper leaflets are largest 

 and the two lower ones smaller. From to 20 greenish yellow flowers are 

 produced in a cluster during July and August, followed later in the season by 

 bright crimson berries. It belongs to the ginseng family (Araliacese). 



Description of root. — Ginseng has a thick, spindle-shaped root. 2 to 3 inches 

 long or more, and about one-half to 1 inch in thickness, often branched, the 

 outside prominently marked with circles or wrinkles. (PI. V, fig. 3.) The 

 spindle-shaped root is simple at fii'st, but after the second year it usually be- 

 comes forked or branched, and it is the branched root, especially if it resembles 

 the human form, that finds particular favor in the eyes of the Chinese, who are 

 the principal consumei's of this root. 



Ginseng root has a thick, pale yellowish white or brownish yellow bark, prom- 

 inently marked with transverse wrinkles, the whole root fleshy and somewhat 

 flexible. If pi'operly dried, it is solid and firm. Ginseng has a slight aromatic 

 odor, and the taste is sweetish and mucilaginous. 



Collection and uses. — The proper time for digging ginseng root is in autumn, 

 and it should be carefully washed, sorted, and dried. If collected at any other 

 season of the year, it will shrink more and not have the fine plump appearance 

 of the fall-dug root. 



The National Dispensatory contains an interesting item concerning the collec- 

 tion of the root by the Indians. They gather the root only after the fruit has 

 ripened, and it is said that they bend down the stem of ripened fruit before 

 digging the root, covering the fruit with earth, and thus providing for future 

 propagation. The Indians claim that a large percentage of the seeds treated in 

 this way will germinate. 



Although once official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, from 1840 to 1880, 

 it is but little used medicinally in this country except by the Chinese residents, 

 most of the ginseng produced in tliis country being exported to China. The 

 Chinese regard ginseng root as a panacea. It is on account of its commercial 

 prominence that it is included in this paper. 



Cultivation. — There is probably no plant that has become better known, at 

 least by name, during the past ten years or more than ginseng. It has been 

 heralded from north to south and east to west as a money-making crop. The 



3519— No. 107—07 M 4 



