Ginseng

Ginseng became an important way to make money for Appalachians early in their history. Native Americans had used the plants for medicine first. The Chinese had revered it for ages and provided a willing market for any exports. There's indication that Daniel Boone harvested the roots, and Thomas Jefferson listed the plant among his inventories. In 1824, about 750,000 pounds of ginseng roots were shipped to China. By the late 1800's it was already getting harder to find. Today it is found in the eastern United States around the Appalachian region from Georgia to Maine.

The term "ginseng" is the Americanization of the Chinese term "jin-chen," meaning manlike. The roots often resemble an abstract image of a body. In the mountains where it grows, it has the nickname of "seng." Although ginseng can be domestically grown, it doesn't have the same quality as that grown in the wild. The wild ones are easily recognized by their rings on the roots. This indicates it's higher in medicinal properties. The plant with more whorls making up its leaves also has a better quality. They generally range from two to six of these leaf parts, and those with six are highly sought. As the plant has become more scarce, the price has soared. Although the price varies, a digger can expect to get somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 to $600 per pound for

ginseng. Domestically grown ginseng brings a fraction of that, but the wild plant is getting rarer all the time, and most ginseng on the market today comes from the domestically grown plants.

My mother remembered hunting for ginseng. In Cleared for Planting, Emma will learn its uses from the Cherokee, and in the next book in the Appalachian Roots series, Sown in Dark Soil, both Emma and Leah use it to treat people but not to sell.

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