{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{About|the plant species|the root and its uses|Ginseng|another species that is also called "Chinese ginseng"|Panax notoginseng}} {{Speciesbox | image = Ginsengpflanze.jpg | genus = Panax | species = ginseng | authority = C.A.Mey. | synonyms = {{Specieslist |Aralia ginseng|(C.A.Mey.) Baill. |Panax verus|Oken }} |synonyms_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.catalogueoflife.org/show_species_details.php?record_id=4842124 |title=Synonyms in Catalogue of life |access-date=2015-11-01 |archive-date=2009-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710210534/http://www.catalogueoflife.org/show_species_details.php?record_id=4842124 }}</ref> }}
'''''Panax ginseng''''', '''ginseng''',<ref name="GRIN">{{GRIN|id=26379|access-date=13 February 2018}}</ref> also known as '''Asian ginseng''',<ref name="GRIN" /><ref name="NCCIH">{{cite web|title=Asian Ginseng|date=September 2016|url=https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/asianginseng/ataglance.htm|publisher=National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)|access-date = June 24, 2017}}</ref> '''Chinese ginseng'''<ref name="GRIN" /><ref name="NCCIH" /> or '''Korean ginseng''',<ref name="GRIN" /><ref name="NCCIH" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |title=English Names for Korean Native Plants |publisher=Korea National Arboretum |year=2015 |isbn=978-89-97450-98-5 |location=Pocheon |page=559 |access-date=24 December 2016 |via=Korea Forest Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525105020/http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2017 }}</ref> is a species of plant whose root is the original source of ginseng. It is a perennial plant that grows in the mountains of East Asia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perkins |first=Dorothy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMQeAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Panax+ginseng%22+is+a+perennial+plant+that+grows+in+the+mountains+of+%22East+Asia%22.&pg=PA181 |title=Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture |date=2013-11-19 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-93562-7 |page=181 |language=en}}</ref> It is mainly cultivated in China, Korea, Russia, and Japan.
''P. ginseng'' is an herbaceous perennial plant, 30–60 cm tall, with palmately compound leaves, serrated leaflets, a terminal umbel of 30–50 flowers, red round fruits, and kidney-shaped seeds.<ref name="drugs">{{cite web |title=Ginseng |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/ginseng.html |publisher=Drugs.com |access-date=12 February 2026 |date=20 November 2025}}</ref>
''P. ginseng'' is primarily cultivated in Korea. While all South Korean ginseng is ''P. ginseng'',<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Braun |first1=Lesley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z9sDoVItZIQC&dq=ginseng+produced+in+China+includes+P.+ginseng+and+South+China+ginseng+(+P.+noto+ginseng+)&pg=PA509 |title=Herbs and Natural Supplements Inkling: An Evidence-Based Guide |last2=Cohen |first2=Marc |date=2010-06-24 |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=978-0-7295-7910-0 |page=509 |language=en}}</ref> ginseng production in China encompasses both ''P. ginseng'' and South China ginseng (''Panax notoginseng'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Experts |first=EduGorilla Prep |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esF_EAAAQBAJ&dq=Panax+ginseng+is+a+perennial+plant+that+grows+in+the+mountains+of+East+Asia.&pg=PA72 |title=GPAT 2024 - Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test - 10 Full Length Mock Tests and 15 Sectional Tests (1600 Solved Questions) |publisher=EduGorilla Community Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-93-5556-293-7 |page=72 |language=en}}</ref>
There is little evidence that using ''P. ginseng'' provides any health effect.<ref name="NCCIH" /><ref name="lm">{{cite web |date=20 December 2021 |title=Ginseng |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK501814/ |access-date=12 February 2026 |publisher=LactMed, Drugs and Lactation Database, US National Library of Medicine}}</ref> It may cause side effects or interact with various medications and conditions.<ref name="lm" /><ref name=drugs/>
==Names== ''Panax ginseng'' is called '''''rénshēn''''' ({{lang|zh-Hant|人蔘}} or {{lang|zh-Hant|人参}} or {{lang|zh-Hant|人參}}; {{literal translation|ginseng}}) in Mandarin (Chinese),<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Trotha |first1=Alexandra-Friederike von |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KKjDDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Panax+ginseng%22+is+called+%22R%C3%A9nsh%C4%93n%22&pg=PA91 |title=Qualitätskontrolle in der TCM: Chinesische Heilpflanzen auf dem Prüfstand |last2=Schmitz |first2=Oliver Johannes |date=2019-12-11 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |isbn=978-3-662-59256-4 |page=91 |language=de}}</ref> '''''insam''''' ({{Korean|hangul=인삼|hanja=人蔘}}) in Korean, '''''nhân sâm''''' in Vietnamese and '''''ninjin''''' ({{lang|ja|人参}}) in Japanese. The specific epithet ''ginseng'' means "man-herb" or "forked root".{{sfnp|Gledhill|2008|page=178}}
==Description== ''Panax ginseng'' is a herbaceous perennial growing from 30 to 60 cm tall. Plants have a spindle- or cylinder-shaped taproot, usually with 1 or 2 main branches.<ref name=drugs/> Plants produce 3 to 6 leaves that are palmately compound, with each leaf having 3 to 5 leaflets. The margins of the leaflets are densely serrated. The flowers are born in a solitary inflorescence that is a terminal umbel with 30 to 50 flowers. The peduncles of the flowers are 15 to 30 cm long. The flower ovary is 2-carpellate, with each carpel having two distinct styles. Mature fruits are 4–5 x 6–7 millimeters in size, red in color, and round with flattened ends. The white seeds are kidney-shaped. The (2n) diploid chromosome count is 48.<ref name="FoC:200015253">{{eFloras |2 |200015253 |Panax quinquefolius |family=Araliaceae |first1=Qibai |last1=Xiang |first2=Porter P. |last2=Lowry |access-date=5 January 2024}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== thumb|''Panax ginseng'' illustrated by Pierre Jartoux in 1713
In a letter dated 12 April 1711, the French Jesuit mathematician and cartographer Pierre Jartoux described ''gin-seng'',{{sfnp|Jartoux|1713|pages=242–246}} a Chinese name for a plant now known as ''Panax ginseng''.{{sfnp|Brinckmann|Huang|2018|pages=908–910}} According to Jartoux, the name means "form of man", which refers to the shape of the root.{{sfnp|Jartoux|1713|page=245}}
== Distribution == ''Panax ginseng'' is native to mountainous regions of the Russian Far East, Northeast China, and the Korean Peninsula.<ref name="GRIN" /> It grows in forested areas of Canada and the United States.<ref name=drugs/> It is a protected plant in Russia and China, and most commercial ginseng is now sourced from plants cultivated in China, Korea and Russia. It is also cultivated in some areas of Japan and in Wisconsin.<ref name=drugs/> The plant is a slow-growing perennial, and the roots are usually harvested when the plants are five or six years old.<ref name=Mahady>{{cite book|author1=Mahady, Gail B. |author2=Fong, Harry H.S. |author3=Farnsworth, N.R. |title=Botanical Dietary Supplements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TiU-Dz2wxyAC&pg=PA207 |year=2001 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-90-265-1855-3 |pages=207–215}}</ref>
== Cultivation == {{main|Ginseng#Production}} ''Panax ginseng'' is one of the most commonly cultivated ginseng species, along with ''P. notoginseng'' (found naturally in China) and ''P. quinquefolius''.<ref name="Baeg">{{cite journal |last1=Baeg |first1=In-Ho |last2=So |first2=Seung-Ho |title=The world ginseng market and the ginseng |journal=Journal of Ginseng Research |date=2013 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=1–7 |url=http://koreascience.or.kr/article/ArticleFullRecord.jsp?cn=GROSBR_2013_v37n1_1 |doi=10.5142/jgr.2013.37.1 |pmid=23717152 |access-date=11 August 2018|pmc=3659626 }}</ref>
==Research== There is little evidence for ginseng having health effects.<ref name=lm/><ref name=drugs/> Ginseng phytochemicals, such as ginsenosides, are under preliminary research for their potential to affect aging-related disorders.<ref name=drugs/><ref>{{Cite journal|display-authors=etal. |last1=de Oliveira Zanuso |first1=Bárbara |last2=de Oliveira dos Santos |first2=Ana Rita |last3=Miola |first3=Vitor Fernando Bordin |last4=Guissoni Campos |first4=Leila M. |last5=Spilla |first5=Caio Sergio Galina |last6=Barbalho |first6=Sandra Maria |date=2022-05-01 |title=Panax ginseng and aging related disorders: A systematic review |journal=Experimental Gerontology |volume=161 |article-number=111731 |doi=10.1016/j.exger.2022.111731 |pmid=35143871 |issn=0531-5565}}</ref>
''Panax ginseng'' is generally considered safe for adults when used for less than six months, but may be unsafe over the long-term, and has potential for causing adverse interactions with various prescription drugs, such as warfarin.<ref name="NCCIH"/><ref name=lm/><ref name=drugs/>
==Potential for adverse effects== Use of ''Panax ginseng'' during pregnancy and breastfeeding is potentially unsafe.<ref name=lm/><ref name=drugs/> It may have adverse effects in people with immune disorders, bleeding conditions, cardiovascular diseases or cancer.<ref name=lm/><ref name=drugs/> It should not be used by children.<ref name=lm/><ref name=drugs/>
Common side effects include headache, an increase in blood pressure, diarrhea, insomnia, skin rash, and vaginal bleeding.<ref name=NCCIH/><ref name=lm/><ref name=drugs/>
== Folk medicine == Ginseng is used as an herb in folk medicine.<ref name="NCCIH" />
== See also == * American ginseng
== References == {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite journal |last1=Brinckmann |first1=Josef |last2=Huang |first2=Linfang |title=American Ginseng a Genuine Traditional Chinese Medicine |journal=Medicina Nei Secoli: Journal of History of Medicine and Medical Humanities |date=2018-11-01 |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=907–928 |url=https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa01/medicina_nei_secoli/article/view/1559 |access-date=4 January 2024 |issn=0394-9001}} * {{cite book |last1=Gledhill |first1=David |title=The Names of Plants |year=2008 |edition=4th |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJ6PyhVuecwC |isbn=978-0-521-86645-3}} * {{cite journal |last1=Jartoux |first1=Pierre |title=XXV. The description of a tartarian plant, call'd gin-seng; with an account of its virtues. In a letter from Father Jartoux, to the Procurator General of the Missions of India and China. Taken from the tenth volume of letters of the Missionary Jesuits, printed in Paris in octavo, 1713 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |date=1713 |volume=28 |issue=337 |pages=237–247 |doi=10.1098/rstl.1713.0025 |doi-access=free}}
{{Wikispecies}} {{Commons}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q182881}} {{Authority control}} {{Ginseng}}
Category:Flora of China Category:Korean vegetables ginseng Category:Plants described in 1842