30 



MISC. PUBLICATION 77, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



FRINGETREE 



Chionanthus virginka L. (Fig. 53.) 



Other common names. — American fringetree, white fringe, flowering ash, poison 

 ash, graybeard tree, old-man's-beard, shavings, snowdrop tree, snowflower. 



Habitat and range. — The fringetree is found in moist thickets and along streams 

 from Delaware to Florida and Texas. 



Description. — The fringetree is from 6 to 20 feet in height, with the trunk 

 covered with a light-colored bark. It has smooth entire leaves. The white 

 flowers, which from their drooping character give a fringelike appearance, are 

 produced in May and June, are borne in dense clusters, and are followed by 

 fleshy, bluish-black fruits containing a 1-seeded nut. 



Part used. — The bark of the root. In reasonably constant demand. 





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Figure 53.— Fringetree (Chionanthus virginka) 



Figure 54.— Giaseng (Panax quinquefolium) 



GINSENG 



, Panax quinquefolium L. (Fig. 54.) 



Other common names. — American ginseng, sang, redberry, fivefingers. 



Habitat and range. — Ginseng is found sparingly in the rich, moist soil in 

 hardwood forests from Maine to Minnesota southward to the mountains of north- 

 ern Georgia and Arkansas. Ginseng has long been cultivated in small areas 

 in the Northern and Central States and on the North Pacific coast. 5 



Description. — Ginseng is an erect plant growing from 8 to 15 inches high and 

 bearing three leaves at the summit, each leaf consisting of five thin, stalked 

 leaflets. The three upper leaflets are larger than the two lower ones. From 

 6 to 20 greenish-yellow flowers are produced in a small cluster during July and 

 August, followed later in the season by bright-crimson berries. Ginseng has a 

 thick, fleshy, spindle-shaped root 2 to 3 inches or more in length and about one- 

 half to 1 inch in thickness, often branched. After the second year the root 

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

 the human form, which finds particular favor with the Chinese, who are the 

 principal consumers of the root. 



Part used. — The root, dug in autumn. If collected at any other season of 

 the year the root shrinks more on drying, which injures its appearance and 

 lowers its market value. In reasonably constant demand. 



6 Stockberger, W. W. ginseng culture. U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 1184, 15 p., illus. 1921. 



