Nature's Pharmacy: Ancient Knowledge, Modern Medicine

Conservation

Records indicate that perhaps 20 million pounds of dried wild Ginseng roots (equaling at least 60 million pounds of roots harvested) were shipped from the United States to China between the end of the Revolutionary War and 1900. By the mid- to late-1800s, American Ginseng was becoming scarce as a result of overcollection and by 1900 it was nearing extinction in some areas. Simultaneously, growers managed to successfully cultivate the hard-to-grow plant. Ginseng farms spread through the East and Midwest; however, blight and other problems eliminated all but those in Wisconsin, which is presently the source of most cultivated Ginseng. Today American Ginseng, a crop valued at tens of millions of dollars, is mostly sold through the Hong Kong auction market. While the vast majority of Ginseng is still consumed by persons of Chinese descent, the demand for the herb is growing both in Asia and in the United States. The export of Ginseng is regulated by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). As a result, limits have been imposed on the collection of ginseng in the wild, and permits must be procured for its collection and for the export of cultivated ginseng.

The supply of cultivated Ginseng is insufficient to meet the ever-increasing demand, and once again, wild populations are in danger of extinction. Some Midwestern states have responded by banning collection of wild Ginseng and including it on their list of endangered and threatened species. In Iowa, wild Ginseng can be legally harvested between September and mid-March, except in state parks and preserves, by filing an application (including a $10 permit fee) with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Restrictions are that plants must be sufficiently mature (they must possess three or more leaves) and the harvester must plant all seeds from the harvested plant within 100 feet of that plant. However, observations in natural habitats, woodlands where Ginseng might be expected and where it has been collected historically (as documented by herbarium specimens), indicate that this species may be in danger of extinction. It would be prudent to discontinue granting permits to harvest wild plants, and to include Ginseng on the Iowa list of Endangered and Threatened Plants, as other states are doing.

Why is it important to maintain wild populations of Ginseng and other plants cultivated for medicinal purposes? The answer lies in the genetically mixed plants of the wild populations, which makes it much more likely that they will be resistant to diseases and pathogens that may wipe out genetically similar cultivated plants. The wild populations are our insurance against the future. They can be used to generate new, disease-resistant strains domesticated plants.