Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Apiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Panax quinquefolius
FAMILY
Araliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read about Panax trifolius and the rest of Panax from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Read more about American Ginseng at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Panax quinquefolius
FAMILY
Araliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Panax quinquefolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 139-02-002:
Panax quinquefolium FAMILY Araliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Panax quinquefolium
COMMON NAME:
American Ginseng, Sang
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_paqu_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm090425_035
April Pickens County SC
A young plant.
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JK Marlow jkm150412_290
April Pickens County SC
Laurel Fork Heritage Preserve
Each leaf is divided into 5 stalked obovate leaflets, the basal pair smaller, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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JK Marlow jkm200505_4640
May Spartanburg County SC
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JK Marlow jkm200505_4641
May Spartanburg County SC
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JK Marlow jkm200505_4642
May Spartanburg County SC
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Diane Creaton dmc_03337
July Jackson County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm100730_165
July Jackson County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm160702_147
July Jackson County NC
Slow-growing but long-lived, with a potential life expectancy of ~ 60 years, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
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JK Marlow jkm170818_672
August Jackson County NC
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JK Marlow jkm180828_4338
August Jackson County NC
Berry-like drupes develop in late summer, ripening to crimson-red, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm180828_4340
August Jackson County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm220927_0060
September Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
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JK Marlow s071018_a
October Anderson County SC
Clemson Forest
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Panax quinquefolius
FAMILY
Araliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Panax quinquefolius
FAMILY
Araliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Panax quinquefolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 139-02-002:
Panax quinquefolium
FAMILY
Araliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Panax quinquefolium
1012
Forb
Perennial
Polygamo-dioecious [mostly dioecious, but with some bisexual flowers]
Habitat: cove forests, mesic hardwood forests, generally in nutrient-rich forests though tending to avoid the richest coves, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon (rare in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Palmately compound
Whorled
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White/Greenish-white
Sepals obsolete or minute
5 petals
Inferior ovary
Inflorescence a terminal solitary umbel, usually below the leaves
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Red
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p155
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p040
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p184
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p224
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p286
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p253
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p158
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p163
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p042
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p172
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p207
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p417
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p110
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