TOPIC: Is this ginseng?

I went out looking for ginseng for the first time yesterday, didn't harvest, just looking for now. I think this might be ginseng, anyone able to confirm?

Good morning donrtowery,
Here is the real thing that is just about the same size. Look at the differences in the two plants.

Hugh

donrtowery,

Welcome to the Wildgrown forums! We hope that you will tarry with us and share any stories and pics of future hunts for Ginseng! While you are apparently new to the traditions that many of us on the forums have long practiced (i.e. the hunting, harvesting, planting, growing and stewardship of Ginseng), with time, you will have many stories and pics of your adventures.

Hugh posted a very appropriate photo of a 3 pronged Ginseng plant since the Sarsaparilla plant that you posted a photo of, is also a 3 pronged plant! As you can see, the plants are very similar in appearances and especially so, in their' early years of the growth of Sarsaparilla. You will come to notice that in the older Sarsaparilla plants, that branches will grow off of the individual prongs that come off of the stem and many of the plants will have more than one flower and berry pod. Ginseng will never grow branches off of individual prongs and while a few Ginseng plants have been found with twin flower/berry pods, these are rare and very seldom seen.


Frank

Thanks Hugh and Frank for the responses. Guess I'll go back and try again lol. I've got about 50 acres of hilly woodland in upstate NY, surely there's ginseng out there somewhere

It is my hopes that you find a lot of Ginseng on your' property! If you find any plants, mark them so it will be noticed by you but not others, especially Ginseng Poachers. When season opens, go back and dig the mature plants and carry at least one 3 prong and one 4 prong top around with you. This is one of the easiest ways to learn finding Ginseng as you will have two actual plants in hand to compare with other plants.

Good luck!


Frank

Great advice! I looked up sarsaparilla. Turns out that it's suppose to be good for arthritis (which I've been having some problems with lately. Think I might try drying it and making some tea!

donrtowery wrote:

Great advice! I looked up sarsaparilla. Turns out that it's suppose to be good for arthritis (which I've been having some problems with lately. Think I might try drying it and making some tea!

Yes it is! Also, there are some mushrooms that are very beneficial for treating arthritis as well.

Below is a pic of a nice 4 prong I found last year. I tried to upload it to my previous post but the file was too big, so I downsized it.


Frank

That's a pretty little patch of cranesbill to the left of that four-prong as well.

TylerCounty wrote:

That's a pretty little patch of cranesbill to the left of that four-prong as well.

TylerCounty,

Yep, that was and probably still is a nice little patch of Cranesbill! There are many, many more patches of Cranesbill, Beth Root and Black Cohosh in this location where I scouted for Ginseng last year and some of those patches, cover large portions of the sides of some ridges. There are also quiet a few patches of Blood Root, Sarsaparilla, Blue Cohosh and other Herbs there but they are much smaller patches. However, on the other side of this mountain, there are patches of Beth Root, Black Cohosh and Cranesbill which cover very large portions of the sides of some ridges.

See the links below to slideshows of pics that I took while scouting as well as Ginseng hunting along with some Bow hunting in the same general area.


Frank

Ginseng scouting trip May 15th, 2013
s217.photobucket.com/user/huntsman53/sli...51513%20and%20051913

Ginseng scouting trip June 4th, 2013
s217.photobucket.com/user/huntsman53/sli...ting%20Trip%20060413

Ginseng hunt September 16th, 2013
s217.photobucket.com/user/huntsman53/sli...nseng%20Dig%20091613

Ginseng/Bow hunt September 28th, 2013
s217.photobucket.com/user/huntsman53/sli...0Bow%20Hunt%20092813

end

Huntsman53,

Thank you for sharing your pictures and experience...it is much appreciated.