The Panax (ginseng) genus belongs to the Araliaceae (ivy) family. Panax species are characterized by the presence of ginsenosides and gintonin. Panax is one of approximately 60 plant genera with a classical disjunct east Asian and east North American distribution. Furthermore, this disjunct distribution is asymmetric as only two of the ~18 species in genus are native to North America.
Etymology
thumb|American ginseng at Monk Garden in Wisconsin .
The name Panax, meaning "all-healing" in Greek, shares the same origin as "panacea" and was used for this genus because Carl Linnaeus was aware of its wide use in Chinese medicine.
Panax species
Genus Panax
:Subgenus Panax
::Section Panax
:::Series Notoginseng
::::Panax notoginseng <small> (Burkill) F.H.Chen </small> (san qi, tian qi or tien chi)
:::Series Panax
::::Panax arunachalensis <small>Taram, A.P.Das & Tag</small> (Arunachal Pradesh)
::::Panax assamicus (Assam Ginseng)
::::Panax bipinnatifidus <small> Seem. </small> ("Bipinnatifid")
:::::var. angustifolius <small> (Burkill) J.Wen </small> ("Narrow-leaved")
::::Panax ginseng <small> C.A.Mey. </small> (Asian ginseng, Chinese ginseng, Korean ginseng, Asiatic ginseng, Oriental ginseng)
::::Panax japonicus <small> (T.Nees) C.A.Mey. </small> (Japanese ginseng)
::::Panax quinquefolius <small> L. </small> (American ginseng) – – Eastern North America
::::Panax sokpayensis <small> Shiva K.Sharma & Pandit </small> (Skiikm Himalaya / Sokpa)
::::Panax siamensis <small>J. Wen, 2023</small> (Siamese)
::::Panax vietnamensis <small> Ha & Grushv. </small> (Vietnamese)
::::Panax wangianus <small> S.C.Sun </small> (Wang's) – Range: Arunachal Pradesh to China (Sichuan)
::::Panax zingiberensis <small> C.Y.Wu & Feng </small> ("Ginger-shaped")
::Section Pseudoginseng
::::Panax pseudoginseng <small> Wall. </small> ("Pseudoginseng")
::::Panax stipuleanatus <small> H.T.Tsai & K.M.Feng </small> ("Stipuled")
:Subgenus Trifolius
::::Panax trifolius <small> L. </small> ("Trefoil") – Eastern North America
Hybrids:
- Panax ginseng × Panax quinquifolius (F1 male sterile, roots bigger than parents)
- Panax japonicus f. typicum × Panax quinquifolius
Phylogeny
Based on chloroplast genomes (Manzanilla et al. 2018 and Xia et al. 2025):
Note: Plants of the World Online treats P. major as a junior synonym of P. bipinnatifidus. Flora of China treats it as P. japonicus var. major .
Gallery
<gallery>
File:Ginsengpflanze.jpg
File:Panax quinquefolius.jpg
File:Panax trifolius - Aralia trifolia - Ginseng nain - Dwarf ginseng - Ground nut (5757368334).jpg
File:Panax japonicus (Montage s3).jpg
File:Panax notoginseng cultivation greenhouse.jpg
File:Tam that bac.jpg
</gallery>