Panax ginseng


Panax ginseng, the ginseng, also known as Asian ginseng, Chinese ginseng, or Korean ginseng, 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.

Names

Panax ginseng is called Rénshēn in Chinese, Insam in Korean and Ninjin in Japanese.

Folk medicine

Ginseng is used as an herb in folk medicine.

Distribution

Panax ginseng is native to mountainous regions of Russian Far East, Northeast China, and the Korean Peninsula. It is a protected plant in Russia and China, and most commercial ginseng is now sourced from plants cultivated in China, Korea and Russia. The plant is a slow-growing perennial and the roots are usually harvested when the plants are five or six years old.

Cultivation

Panax ginseng is one of the most commonly cultivated ginseng species, along with P. notoginseng, P. ginseng, and P. quinquefolius.