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?
About Wild Ozark
Wild Ozark is a nature farm. Mostly we grow rocks. I use those rocks and some of the herbs to make earth pigments and watercolor paints. We also grow native clay that I use for paint and various other things. And then there are the trees. We grow lots of trees. My husband uses some for his woodworking and some for our Burnt Kettle Shagbark Hickory Syrup, but for the most part they stand around creating good air, shade, & habitat for the ginseng nursery.
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About the voice behind this blog, Madison Woods
I'm a creative old soul living way off the beaten path with my husband in the wild Ozark Mountains. You can find my art on display and for sale at the Kingston Square Arts shop in Kingston, Arkansas. It's a tiny little town and a bit off the path to anywhere at all, but a wonderful ride out to a most beautiful part of our state. Besides homesteading, growing plants & making arts & crafty things, I write books and stories. My rural fantasy fiction, written under the pen name, Ima Erthwitch, usually takes place in a much altered Ozarks.
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 thing for folks 🙂 Thanks for your input too!
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.
Thanks, Sara. Do any of them look like ginseng to you? I had forgotten about Solomon’s seal and the circular scars when I first saw the photos, but after looking at some others online they do look like the one she’s holding in the top pic.
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.”