American Ginseng
Panax quinquefolium

Picture taken May 9

The dried roots of this plant are very much in demand in Chinese folk medicine. Because of this, it has long been dug and sold for export and now has almost become exterminated. The stem bears a whorl of three palmately compound leaves, each composed of five leaflets, hence the specific epithet quinquefolium (five leaves). In June, the plant forms a cluster of minute greenish white flowers which are followed by a cluster of red berries in August.

Family Araliaceae (Ginseng Family)

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September 13