- Scientific Name: Panax ginseng C.A.Mey.
- Ref: Rep. Pharm. Prakt. Chem. Russ. 7:524. 1842
- Synonyms: Aralia ginseng (C.A.Mey.) Baill., Panax verus Oken
- English Common Name: ginseng, Chinese ginseng, Korean ginseng, Asian ginseng
- Chinese Common Name: 人参 rénshēn, 棒槌 bàngchui
- Japanese Common Name: オタネニンジン [御種人蔘] otaneninjin, コウライニンジン [高麗人参] kōraininjin
- Family: Araliaceae
- Genus: Panax
- Distribution: Mixed forests, deciduous broad-leaved forests. E Heilongjiang, E Jilin, E Liaoning; recently cultivated in Hebei and Shanxi [Korea, E Russia].
- Photo: 07/14/2008, Mt. Changbai, Jilin
Herbs, perennial, 30-60 cm tall. Rootstock usually with 1- or 2-fascicled roots, fusiform or cylindric. Leaves 3-6, verticillate at apex of stem, palmately compound; petiole base without stipule or stipulelike appendages; leaflets 3-5, membranous, abaxially glabrous, adaxially sparsely setose (trichomes ca. 1 mm), base broadly cuneate, margin densely serrulate, apex long acuminate; central leaflet elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 8-12 × 3-5 cm; lateral leaflets ovate to rhombic-ovate, 2-4 × 1.5-3 cm. Inflorescence a solitary, terminal umbel 30-50-flowered; peduncle 15-30 cm, usually longer than petiole; pedicels 0.8-1.5 cm. Ovary 2-carpellate; styles 2, distinct. Fruit red, compressed-globose, 4-5 × 6-7 mm; seeds nephroid, white. 2n = 48*. (Flora of China)
