Panax ginseng, ginseng, also known as Asian ginseng, Chinese 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. It is mainly cultivated in China, Korea, Russia, and Japan.
P. ginseng is an herbaceous perennial plant, 30–60 cm tall, with palmately compound leaves, serrated leaflets, a terminal umbel of 30–50 flowers, red round fruits, and kidney-shaped seeds.
P. ginseng is primarily cultivated in Korea. While all South Korean ginseng is P. ginseng, ginseng production in China encompasses both P. ginseng and South China ginseng (Panax notoginseng).
There is little evidence that using P. ginseng provides any health effect. It may cause side effects or interact with various medications and conditions. insam () in Korean, nhân sâm in Vietnamese and ninjin () in Japanese. The specific epithet ginseng means "man-herb" or "forked root".
Description
Panax ginseng is a herbaceous perennial growing from 30 to 60 cm tall. Plants have a spindle- or cylinder-shaped taproot, usually with 1 or 2 main branches.
Taxonomy
thumb|Panax ginseng illustrated by Pierre Jartoux in 1713
In a letter dated 12 April 1711, the French Jesuit mathematician and cartographer Pierre Jartoux described gin-seng, a Chinese name for a plant now known as Panax ginseng. According to Jartoux, the name means "form of man", which refers to the shape of the root.
Distribution
Panax ginseng is native to mountainous regions of the Russian Far East, Northeast China, and the Korean Peninsula.
Cultivation
Panax ginseng is one of the most commonly cultivated ginseng species, along with P. notoginseng (found naturally in China) and P. quinquefolius.
Research
There is little evidence for ginseng having health effects.
Panax ginseng is generally considered safe for adults when used for less than six months, but may be unsafe over the long-term, and has potential for causing adverse interactions with various prescription drugs, such as warfarin.