ILLINOIS PLANT INFORMATION NETWORK ILPIN INFORMATION ON Panax quinquefolius CLASS: DICOTYLEDENAE ORDER: UMBELLALES FAMILY: ARALIACEAE SCIENTIFIC NAME: Panax quinquefolius AUTHORITY: L. COMMON NAMES: GINSENG SYNONOMY: None PLANTS CODE: PAQU NATURAL COMMUNITIES: FOREST UPLAND FOREST MESIC SAF FOREST COVER TYPE: UNAVAILABLE NATURAL DIVISION: UNAVAILABLE COUNTIES: ADAMS ALEXANDER BROWN CALHOUN CARROLL CASS CHAMPAIGN CLARK COLES COOK CRAWFORD DEKALB DEWITT DOUGLAS DUPAGE EDGAR EFFINGHAM FAYETTE FULTON GREENE GRUNDY HANCOCK HARDIN HENDERSON JACKSON JERSEY JO DAVIESS JOHNSON KANE KANKAKEE KENDALL KNOX LAKE LASALLE LAWRENCE LEE LOGAN MCDONOUGH MCHENRY MCLEAN MACON MACOUPIN MADISON MARION MASSAC MORGAN OGLE PEORIA PIATT PIKE POPE PUTNAM RANDOLPH RICHLAND ST. CLAIR SALINE SANGAMON SCHUYLER SCOTT SHELBY STEPHENSON TAZEWELL UNION VERMILION WABASH WAYNE WILL WILLIAMSON WINNEBAGO WOODFORD GROWTH FORM: Dicot-herb TAXONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS: ROOTS: Primary LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite LEAF TYPE: Compound (palmately) LEAF MARGIN: Serrate LEAF VENATION: Pinnate LEAF SHAPE: Oblong Obovate INFLORESCENCE: Umbel FLOWER MEROUS: 5 FLOWER STRUCTURE: Complete Regular FLOWER COLOR: White FLOWER PLACEMENT: Epigynous FRUIT: Berry DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC COMMENTS: Roots fusiform (thick near middle and tapering near ends); leaflets longstalked; berry bright red. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: ORIGIN: Native POPULATION DYNAMICS: STATE STATUS: Not listed FEDERAL STATUS: Not listed COMMONNESS: Uncommon ENDEMIC: NOT-ENDEMIC BIOLOGIC: HABIT: Forb LIFE CYCLE: Perennial REPRODUCTION: Sexual FLOWERING PERIOD: MONTH BEGINNING- 7 MONTH END- 8 TROPHIC STATUS: Autotrophic C02 FIXATION: C3 SEX: Perfect Unisexual -dioecious ECODISTRIBUTION COMMENTS: Rich woodlands. ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS: GROWTH OF SPECIES IN VARIOUS CONDITIONS: No data entered HABITAT: Moist FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS: No data entered HUMAN RELATIONSHIP DATA: WILD HERBS: Culinary-flavor HUMAN FACTOR COMMENTS: Leaves sometimes used for tea; root has a supposedly medicinal value. WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK INFORMATION: No data entered REVEGETATION PLANTINGS: No data entered REFERENCES: Mohlenbrock, R. H., ed. 1975. Guide to the vascular flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 494 pp. Jones, G. N. 1963. Flora of Illinois. Third ed. American Midland Naturalist Monograph 7. University of Notre Dame, Indiana. 401 pp. Steyermark, J. A. 1963. Flora of Missouri. Iowa State University Press, Ames. 1725 pp. Gleason, H. A., and A. Cronquist. 1963. Manual of vascular plants of north- eastern United States and adjacent Canada. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York. 810 pp. Fernald, M. L. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. 8th ed. American Book Co., New York. 1632 pp. Swink, F., and G. S. Wilhelm. 1979. Plants of the Chicago region. Third ed. The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. 922 pp. Porter, C. L. 1967. Taxonomy of flowering plants. W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco. 472 pp. Sheviak, C. J. 1981. Endangered and threatened plants. Pages 70-179 in M. L. Bowles, V. E. Diersing, and J. E. Ebinger, eds., Endangered and threatened vertebrate animals and vascular plants of Illinois. Illinois Department of Conservation, Springfield. Downton, W. J. S. 1975. The occurrence of C4 photosynthesis among plants. Photosynthetica 9(1): 96-105. OTHER REFERENCES: Kurz, D.R. and M.L. Bowles. 1981. Report on the Status of Illinois Vascular Plants Potentially Endangered or Threatened in the United States. Natural Land Institute. Rockford, Il. END OF DATA FOR SPECIES Panax quinquefolius ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ILPIN was developed by Louis Iverson*, with data compiled by David Ketzner and Jeanne Karnes Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820 *currently employed by USDA Forest Service, 359 Main Rd., Delaware, OH 43015