View source for Panax quinquefolius (root)

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Panax quinquefolius'' (root) }} {{askbox|herb=''Panax quinquefolius''}}
=Nomenclature=
{{nomenclature | binomial=Panax quinquefolius
|authority=L.
|family=Araliaceae
|scn=American ginseng
|syn=
|ayurvedic=
|pinyin=xi yang shen (root)
|aka=
|notes=}}

=Botanical Voucher Specimen=


{{Media      |cat=Voucher 
             
             | source=MOBOT, Tropicos.org
             | mainimage=Panax quinquefolius Tropicos 53111.jpg
             | companyimage=TropicosLogo.gif
             | companyURL=http://www.tropicos.org/Image/53111
             | reference=Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 19 Mar 2014 <http://www.tropicos.org/Image/53111>

             | }}

=Organoleptic Characteristics=
{| border=1
|
{{Organolepsy | source=United States Dispensatory (1918)
| description=[''Panax ginseng'' (root)] has a feeble odor, and a sweet, slightly aromatic taste, somewhat analogous to that of licorice root.}}
|}

=Macroscopic Characteristics=
{| border=1
|
{{Macroscopy | source=American Medicinal Plants of Commercial Importance (1930)
| description=Ginseng is an erect plant growing from 8 to 15 inches high and bearing three leaves at the summit, each leaf consisting of five thin, stalked leaflets.  The three upper leaflets are larger than the two lower ones.  From 6 to 20 greenish-yellow flowers are produced in a small cluster during July and August, followed later in the season by bright-crimson berries.  Ginseng has a thick, fleshy, spindle-shaped root 2 to 3 inches or more in length and about one-half to 1 inch in thickness, often branched.  After the second year the root becomes branched or forked.
}}
{{Macroscopy | source=United States Dispensatory (1918)
| description=The root is fleshy, somewhat spindle-shaped, from 5 to 12 cm. long, and 1 to 2.5 cm. thick, and terminated by one or more stem scars. Frequently there are two portions, sometimes three or more, connected at their upper extremity, and bearing a supposed, though very remote, resemblance to the human figure, from which circumstance it is said that the Chinese name ginseng originated. When dried, the root is yellowish-white and wrinkled externally, and within consists usually of a hard central portion, surrounded by a soft whitish bark. }}
|}
=Microscopic Characteristics=

{{Media2 |cat=Microscopy | source=Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories
             | companyimage= AP-LOGO-Laboratories Crop - Copy.jpg
             | companyURL=http://www.alkemist.com
             | mainimage=American ginseng.jpg
             | caption1=Rosette of calcium oxalate observed at 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Glycerol Solution.
| source2=Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories
             | companyimage2= AP-LOGO-Laboratories Crop - Copy.jpg
             | companyURL2=http://www.alkemist.com
             | image2=American ginseng-1.jpg
             | caption2=Yellow secretion from a resin canal observed at 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Glycerol Solution.
             | characteristics=cellular structures identified in this botanical specimen are the rosette of calcium oxalate and the yellow secretion from a resin canal when observed at 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Glycerol Solution.
             | reference=Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals, Max Wichtl, 3rd ed., 2004
             | }}

=High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic Identification=

=Supplementary Information=
=Sources=
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