Do you know what kind of roots these are?
The other day I got an email asking for some identification help.
From the photos, I do not believe it’s ginseng, but I can’t tell what it is. Some of them look like iris, bloodroot and goldenseal and maybe a tree root thrown in.
However, the reader wonders if perhaps the ginseng looks different in PA than it does in AR.
Since I’ve never personally seen ginseng from PA, she wanted to ask the community. I agreed. I hope some of you out there will help us out.
So, dear blog readers and ginseng enthusiasts… and especially those in Pennsylvania –
Is this ginseng? If not, do you recognize what it is?


I’m not sure I have found ginseng…..is there anyway I can send pictures of the plant & you tell me? Please?
I dug up some cohosh and solomon’s seal since this post and it to me looks mostly like solomon’s seal. Whatever it is, definitely not ginseng. The person who sent the photo to me just wanted some second or third opinions and I’m always happy to do that sort of… Read more »
Most of it looks like small black cohosh and others I don’t think any of that is ginseng
Looks like Polygonum (Solomon Seal) & Sanguinaria (Bloodroot) mostly.
From Trevor Mills, buyer in MO/AR: “Looks more like Solomon’s seal root than ginseng. All the big round flat spots and pointy ends on the roots.”