TOPIC: Ginseng???

I am new to this forum so... Hello everyone!
Can anyone tell me if this is ginseng? Thanks

Nope, its Virginia creeper. Grab ahold of it and pull on it. It will have a vine that will probably be running out of sight. I actually think I see the vine in the picture.

Hillhopper

Don,

Below is a pic that might help you out some..

Circled is a 3 prong ginseng plant and it is growing in a big patch of virginia creeper.

Notice on the ginseng, on each leaf cluster, that there are 3 large leaves pointing out away from the center, and 2 small leaves pointing back towards the center.

That is the pattern that your eyes will eventually pick up on. It's what makes a seng hunter scan a hillside full of Virginia Creeper and instantly spot the one seng plant there.

TNhunter

This plant never ceases to amaze me. I love how ginseng is talked about being an adaptogen - more like a chameleon in a plant!

Thanks for posting TNHunter, after following Latt around in his woods several times and getting an eye for finding seng, this picture does a world of good to someone less experienced than myself.

TNhunter, Thanks for the picture, I see what you mean!

THANK YOU FOR ASKING THAT AND THANK YOU TO HE WHO ANSWERED !!! I was just going to ask that and would have had to try describe them because I do not have pics to upload. Altho I am in SW PA...THAT IS ALL I HAVE BEEN FINDING that resembles ginseng and I'm SOOO FRUSTRATED!!! I think I have the perfect medium...North facing slope...steep grade, stream at the bottom, fern, poplar trees (oak too tho ). Those blasted Virginia things are everywhere!

KRose wrote:

THANK YOU FOR ASKING THAT AND THANK YOU TO HE WHO ANSWERED !!! I was just going to ask that and would have had to try describe them because I do not have pics to upload. Altho I am in SW PA...THAT IS ALL I HAVE BEEN FINDING that resembles ginseng and I'm SOOO FRUSTRATED!!! I think I have the perfect medium...North facing slope...steep grade, stream at the bottom, fern, poplar trees (oak too tho ). Those blasted Virginia things are everywhere!

KRose,

Welcome to the Wildgrown Forums! You are probably searching areas that have been hit hard by other Ginseng diggers and probably a few poachers. You need to get further back into the mountains, off of the beat and path but plan accordingly. Make sure to take extra water and maybe energy drinks, food that can be packed small and lightweight, energy bars and some rope and survival items (matches or a firestarter, survival blanket, bear pepper spray, something to cook or boil water in, etc.) just in case you get lost or have to spend a night or two in the woods. I lived in West Virginia for 10 years and know that there is some serious wilderness areas in Southwest Pennsylvania. If you know that you are in perfect areas due to the companion plants and lay of the mountains and land and you are not finding any Ginseng down low (i.e. from the half way up a ridge or hollow side to the bottom of the ridge or hollow), try coming in from the top and working the top and sides of ridges downward towards where you climbed up to before. I have seen it many times, that the Ginseng growing down lower was completely wiped out but some Sangers forget or don't think to go up high or are just lazy and I have found lots of Ginseng growing on game trails on the tops and sides of ridges. Game trails are always good places to look when you are in a good area as Deer, Turkey, Grouse and other animals and birds eat the Ginseng berries with seeds inside and then expel them along game trails as they forage or travel through the forests.

Good luck and be safe!


Frank

Welcome to the forum!

THANKS FRANK! I get so scared going up the hills, with all the bugs, spider webs, I'm scared of snakes, falling, but each time I go...I get alittle more brave and go a little higher. I do suspect other diggers because there are so many indicators without the ginseng that its unreal. Now, when its harvest season, there will probably be less weeds, and less likely to get sniped by a copperhead but THEN Ill be worried Ill get shot by hunters. There are lots of those bullet shells through there. There is a winding stream at the bottom of the area...on the mostly north facing side, its very marshy with wet leaves and fern. On the mostly south facing side its more dry with more dirt and dry leaves on the ground...also with fern. I understand NE to be the most ideal facing slope, but Im curious if soil moisture plays a bigger role than direction....because I've seen indicators (and only indicators) on both sides. Thanks for your response