Is it Ginseng Root, Tree Root, or what?

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?