For West Virginia ginseng diggers, the now-underway ginseng season promises to be a lean one, because drought and over-browsing by deer have caused many of the plant's leaves to fall off or become forage, making them virtually impossible to spot.
But another challenge faces 'seng diggers for the first time this year: a new federal law making it illegal to sell wild ginseng less than 5 years old.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imposed the new law earlier this month, after surveys showed the prized wild root was becoming depleted in national parks and forests, while harvest totals in the 19 ginseng -producing states have also declined.
"Recent reports indicate that wild ginseng may be declining throughout much of its North American range," which stretches from Quebec to Georgia and throughout the Midwest, according to a statement on the new law by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Because ginseng plants begin to produce seed after five years, the new law helps "ensure that wild ginseng plants have at least one season in which to reproduce," according to the statement.
If the new minimum age on harvested wild ginseng fails to bring its population trend upward, the service could impose a temporary moratorium on all exports, or even place the herb on the endangered species list.
Probably the easiest way to tell whether a plant has reached the legal age of 5 is to determine that it has three leaf prongs, according to Robin Black, who tracks the state's ginseng program for the Division of Forestry.
A third leaf prong usually forms between the ages of 5 to 9, usually at age 7, according to the federal agency. But some two-prong plants can be 10 years old or older, Black said, so diggers may want to try counting bud scale scars, or tiny growth rings, located near the point where stem meets the root.
"You can do it without hurting the plant, if you're careful," she said.
West Virginia requires its ginseng diggers to plant seed from harvessted herbs near the spot where the plant was dug. But this year, the seeds are behind schedule in ripening, and diggers are reporting an inordinate number of late-August encounters with green berries.
"It's probably drought-related, too," said Black. "But unless the berries have turned completely red, the plant shouldn't be dug."
While West Virginia diggers used to routinely harvest more than 20,000 pounds of wild root annually, the state's ginseng totals have declined in recent years, as they have in many other states.
Last year, West Virginia ginseng diggers sold only about 8,000 pounds of the dried root. While federal officials point to over-harvesting as one cause of the decline, Black said forest fires and the state's improving employment picture may also be factors. West Virginia and Kentucky have traditionally been neck-and-neck as the nation's top two ginseng producers, but the state is now ranked No. 3, behind Kentucky and Tennessee. In recent years, the state's wild ginseng crop has produced about $4 million a year for West Virginia diggers, with prices sometimes going above $250 a pound for the dried root.
But the plant is so hard to find that only the most dedicated ginseng hunters sell more than a pound or two annually. The Division of Forestry operates 15 official weighing stations across the state to weigh and certify ginseng before it can be exported.
Nearly all of the state's crop is exported to Hong Kong, the ginseng capital of the world, where wholesalers sort the roots into more than two dozen classifications, based on size, color, shape and ring patterns.
The plants are used in Asian medicines and tonics. Wild Appalachian ginseng is considered to be among the most potent in the world.
West Virginia's ginseng harvesting season ends Nov. 30.
- BY: Rick Steelhammer
- SOURCE: the Charleston Gazette1999.08.25
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