American Ginseng
Panax quinquefolius
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in cove forests, moist hardwood forests, generally in nutrient-rich forests though tending to avoid the richest coves. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 8–24 inches
- Spread
- 8–12 inches
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Recorded in 1 Louisiana parish.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Louisiana. Shared habitat, not food. 75 animals.
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Rusty BlackbirdEuphagus carolinus
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
Widespread birds also seen here (16)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Panax
- Herpetogramma thestealisZigzag Herpetogramma, Subtle-Feathered Grass Moth
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Araliaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- Flower color
- Yellow, green or white
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- October
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow, green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “8–24 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Minnesota Wildflowers differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Spread · “8–12 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Sang
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3G4 |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications




