TOPIC: Ginseng or Sarsaparilla or ??

Hi all, new member. Love the site and am looking forward to adding to some conversations. My 13 year old son and I enjoy hiking, fishing and big game hunting together so it's only fitting we get out and look for some ginseng together. Just another reason to spend time together outdoors!
We're complete newbies and came across some plants over the weekend. I think it may be sarsaparilla, can you guys weigh in please? We're in Pennsylvania.

Sarsaparilla! Ginseng's leaves are palmately . All five leaves come off stem at same point. Where sarsaparilla like your picture, their leaves are pinnately, three leaves coming off stem at same point, and two smaller leaves below.

Dang, thanks for the info. The search goes on!!

Not sure that is sarsaparilla, might be a hickory sprout. But...definitely not ginseng.

Hickory sprout

Besides having close, but the wrong leaves, when you see these look at the stem, it is bark like as apposed to being green....hickory!

Besides having close, but the wrong leaves, when you see these look at the stem, it is bark like as apposed to being green....hickory!

Yea, thanks. I did notice the stem had a bark like appearance.

I agree on the young hickory sprout.

They will make you do a double take... often have very similar leaf patterns to seng... with big leaves pointing out and small ones pointing in, but in the case of hickory sprout there is some separation between the small leaf sets and the large leaf sets.

With seng the small leaves and large ones all originate at the same point.

Keep on looking !

TNhunter

Hickory babies will fool a new hunter every time. And sometimes even the experienced hunter.