Wild American Ginseng

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Wild American

Ginseng

Information for Dealers

and Exporters

American ginseng (Panax

quinquefolius) is a native plant that

grows in forests of the United States

from the Midwest to Maine. The

roots of American ginseng have long

been used in herbal medicine and

were originally harvested by Native

Americans.

Most wild American ginseng roots

harvested in the United States

are shipped to Hong Kong and

China. The harvest of ginseng has

signiﬁcant economic and cultural

importance for many communities

in the United States. The wholesale

value of wild American ginseng roots

is estimated at approximately $27

million per year.

Good Stewardship of American

Ginseng

Good stewardship of wild ginseng

means using and promoting

sustainable harvest practices,

which contribute to the long-term

survival of wild populations and their

habitats. Dealers and exporters

have an important role to play in the

stewardship of American ginseng.

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,

Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri,

New York, North Carolina, Ohio,

Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont,

Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin,

and the Menominee Indian Tribe

Reservation of Wisconsin allow the

harvest and trade of wild American

ginseng under certain conditions.

These States and Tribe have laws

and regulations to help conserve

American ginseng so that it continues

to survive in the wild.

Dealers and exporters

play an important

role in maintaining

healthy populations

of American ginseng.

Without your help,

wild ginseng could

disappear from

forests, along with the

livelihoods of those

who depend on it for

income.

bernard_in_va CC BY 2.0

Ginseng root for sale

The wholesale

value of wild

American

ginseng roots

is estimated

at roughly $27

million per year.

Dealers and exporters are

responsible for complying with all

State and Tribal regulations for

American ginseng. Please follow

these requirements and reinforce

good stewardship harvesting

practices when buying and trading in

ginseng:

1. Never purchase underage

roots and/or roots harvested

outside the legal harvest/

buying season. In all 19 States,

ginseng harvest season starts in

September. To learn more about

the requirements, please contact

your State or Tribal regulatory

ofﬁce, or visit http://www.ahpa.

org/GinsengStewardship.aspx.

See the section on “Determining

the Age of American Ginseng”

for more information on how to

identify underage roots.

2. Before buying or selling wild

American ginseng, contact

your State or Tribal regulatory

agency. Obtain the required

State license and always have

your ginseng roots certiﬁed

before shipping them out of the

State.

3. Before shipping

internationally, obtain an

export permit from the U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service. See

the section on “Exporting Wild

American Ginseng” for more

information.

4. Report illegal harvest, buying,

selling, and export of American

ginseng to State and Federal

authorities. Contact the speciﬁc

State or Tribal regulatory

agency for more information,

or visit http://www.ahpa.org/

GinsengStewardship.aspx. The

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Ofﬁce of Law Enforcement can

be reached at lawenforcement@

fws.gov or 703-358-1949.

Dealers and exporters play an

important role in ensuring the

American Ginseng Plant Diagram

Sara Souther

Wild ginseng roots being inspected by USDA-

APHIS

Patricia Ford/USFWS

How to Be a Good

Steward: Dealers

& Exporters

3 4

6. Plant seeds from the harvested

plants in about 1 inch of

soil and leaf litter near the

harvested plants. Squeeze the

berry to force the seeds out, then

plant the seeds about a foot apart

and an inch deep and cover them

with leaf litter. Be sure to plant

the seeds near the harvested

plants.

7. Leave some mature plants for

the future. After harvesting

some of the mature plants (with

red berries) and planting the

seeds, remove the leaves of the

remaining ginseng plants in the

patch. This will hide the plants

and protect the roots from being

harvested so that the plants can

produce seeds next year.

8. If young plants are disturbed

while digging for larger roots,

plant them back in the same

spot. It’s important for these

younger plants to mature and

produce seeds before they are

harvested.

9. Collect and plant only the

seeds from the ginseng patch

where you are digging. Do not

plant seeds from outside sources,

such as those purchased online

or from growers, in or near

wild ginseng patches. Planting

non-local ginseng seeds can

weaken populations and threaten

the long-term survival of wild

ginseng.

A brochure on “Good Stewardship

Harvesting of Wild American

Ginseng” for each of the 19 States,

with each State’s regulations, can be

downloaded for free at http://www.

ahpa.org/GinsengStewardship.aspx.

The brochures were developed in

partnership with and are maintained

by the American Herbal Products

Association. We encourage you to

Dealers and exporters play an

important role in ensuring the

sustainability of American ginseng

by educating diggers on good

stewardship practices. We encourage

you to discuss, share, and reinforce

the following guidelines:

1. Get permission from the

property owner to harvest

ginseng on private property.

2. Check the laws and regulations

before digging on State and

Federal lands. It is illegal to

harvest American ginseng

roots on most State lands and

all National Park Service land.

Harvest of wild ginseng on

U.S. Forest Service National

Forest lands is limited to certain

National Forests. Diggers

must obtain a permit from

the U.S. Forest Service where

harvest is allowed. To ﬁnd the

National Forest in your area,

to see if ginseng harvest is

allowed, visit http://www.fs.fed.

us/locatormap/. To learn about

the State regulations for the

harvest of American ginseng,

visit http://www.ahpa.org/

GinsengStewardship.aspx.

3. Only harvest during the open

harvest season so plants have

time to reproduce. In all 19

States, ginseng harvest season

starts in September.

4. Harvest only mature (3-and

4-prong) plants that are at least

5 years old. Some States require

plants to be 10 years old. See the

section on “Determining the Age

of American Ginseng” for more

information.

5. Harvest only plants with red

berries. Each red berry contains

1-3 seeds.

Did you know?

It is illegal

to harvest

American

ginseng roots on

most State lands

and all National

Park Service

land.

Red ginseng

berries

Gary Kauffman/USFS

How to Be a Good

Steward: Diggers

5 6

print the brochure speciﬁc to your

State and distribute to diggers.

Determining the Age of American

Ginseng

Most States that allow harvest of

ginseng roots require plants to be

5 years of age and/or have 3 leaves

(prongs). Other States require plants

to be 10 years of age and have 3-4

leaves (prongs).

Counting stem scars

Ginseng roots can be aged by

counting the number of stem scars on

the root neck (rhizome) of the plant.

Each year of growth adds a stem scar

to the root neck when the leaf stem

dies back in the autumn. A 5-year-old

plant will have 4 stem scars on the

root neck, and a 10-year-old plant will

have 9 stem scars.

Diggers can also use this method to

determine the age of a ginseng plant

without removing it from the ground.

Simply remove the soil around the

area where the plant’s root neck joins

the root and count the stem scars on

the root neck.

If there are fewer than the required

number of stem scars (4 or 9,

depending on the State or Tribe age

requirement), the root is under aged

and is illegal to harvest, purchase, and

export.

Inspectors with the U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (USDA-

APHIS), count the stem scars on

the root neck to determine the age

of ginseng roots before they can be

exported. That’s why it’s important

to keep the root neck attached to the

ginseng root.

Counting the leaves

Before harvesting roots, diggers can

count the number of leaves (prongs)

on a plant. Please refer to the

American Ginseng Plant Diagram on

page 5 of this brochure to determine

the difference between leaves and

leaﬂets. Ginseng plants have 1-4

leaves, and each leaf has up to 5

leaﬂets. That is, 3 leaves (prongs) will

have up to 15 leaﬂets, and 4 leaves

(prongs) will have up to 20 leaﬂets.

USDA-APHIS

Each year of growth adds a stem scar to the root

neck. You can determine the age of a ginseng plant by

counting these stem scars.

Did you

know? A

ginseng root

can be aged

without

removing

it from the

ground.

3-prong stage;

3 leaves, up to 5

leaﬂets on each leaf

4-prong stage;

4 leaves, up to 5

leaﬂets on each leaf

Eric P. Burkhart

Exporting Wild American Ginseng

American ginseng has been listed

in Appendix II of the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(CITES) since 1975. CITES is a

global agreement to ensure that

international trade in plants and

animals doesn’t threaten their

survival in the wild. Appendix II

includes species that are not currently

at risk of extinction, but may become

so without trade controls.

Because of the CITES Appendix-II

listing, an export permit is required

for the international shipment of

whole and sliced American ginseng

roots, as well as parts of roots

(including root hairs). Powder or

manufactured ﬁnished products (e.g.,

teas, tonics, capsules, extracts, and

candy) do not require a permit.

All wild and wild-simulated American

ginseng roots for export must be from

plants 5 years of age or older (i.e., 4 or

more stem scars on the rhizome).

Anyone planning to ship American

ginseng roots, or parts of roots,

internationally must apply for and

obtain an export permit from the U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).

The USFWS issues permits based on

two determinations:

1. Legal acquisition: The American

ginseng roots must be legally

acquired (i.e., all State and Tribal

regulations were followed).

2. Non-detriment: The

international shipment of

American ginseng must not be

harmful to the survival of the

species.

Wild American ginseng roots must

be certiﬁed by the State or Tribe

where the roots are harvested before

they can be transported out of the

State. To obtain contact information for speciﬁc State or

Tribal regulatory agencies, visit http://www.ahpa.org/

GinsengStewardship.aspx.

The CITES application form can be downloaded from the

USFWS’s website (http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-34.

pdf), or you may call 1-800-358-2104 to obtain the form.

For more information on the permitting process for

American ginseng, visit http://www.fws.gov/international/

Permits/by-species/american-ginseng.html.

All international shipments of American ginseng

roots must be inspected by the U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

(USDA-APHIS). For more information on USDA-APHIS

requirements, visit http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/

aphis/home.

Courtesy of Eric Burkhart, Hsu’s Ginseng Ent. Inc

Wild ginseng for sale in a high-end Chinese boutique

9 10

Remember…

the future of wild American

ginseng depends on YOU!

For more information, please visit:

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service International Affairs

http://www.fws.gov/international

U.S. Department of Agriculture - Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/

USDA-Forest Service

http://www.fs.fed.us/locatormap/

American Herbal Products Association: Good

Stewardship Harvesting of Wild American Ginseng

http://www.ahpa.org/GinsengStewardship.aspx.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

International Affairs

5275 Leesburg Pike

Falls Church, VA 22041-3803

e-mail: [email protected]

http://www.fws.gov/international

July 2015

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