TOPIC: Is this ginseng?

Did my first hunt this weekend. Found this, which I am sure is ginseng.



However, in the next post, I will show a picture of something that looked just like ginseng from the ground up, and had the neck scars that I was told to look for, but did not have the fleshy white root that I always see on the internet. Is this other thing some sort of ginseng look-alike, or does less mature ginseng tend to be browner, woodier, and less white and fleshy?

Here is the thing that looked like ginseng from the neck up, but not below the ground. Again, is this a less mature form of ginseng, or is it something else entirely?

1st pic yes 2nd no looks like Virginia creeper

Vtwoods, are you from Vermont? That 1st is ginseng as hobbler said, but it may be illegal! They need to be at least 10 years old to dig in Vermont now. Is that 10? Maybe it's just the angle of the pic but it doesn't look it.