• American Ginseng -- (Panax Quinquefolium) an indigenous wild plant found in Canada and the eastern area of the United States.
• Korean or Japanese Ginseng -- Panax Ginseng which is used widely in the Orient and Russia as folk medicine. The Chinese words jen (man) and she (root) are the roots of "Ginseng" derived from the shape of the root. There are a number of other perennial herbs in the ginseng grouping including Panax Pseudoginseng.

• Siberian Ginseng -- (Eleutherococcus senticosus) not really a ginseng but a cousin within the Araliaceae family but is also used widely in Asia as a adaptogen.
• Dwarf Ginseng -- (Panax trifolious) is a close relative found in the eastern United States but has no medicinal value.
• Fool's sang or wild sarsaparilla -- (Aralia nudicaulis) closely resembles and is mistaken by novice harvesters for American ginseng.

• Indian turnip (jack-in-the-pulpit)
• black cohosh
• blue cohosh
• goldenseal
• and bloodroot.

• Adaptogen -- ginseng is one of the few plants which are classified as such. An adaptogen is any substance which is non-toxic and creates the minimum amount of disorder in the physiological functions of the organism; the action should be considered non-local or non-specific; and it must be a regulator, possessing a normalizing effect (e.g., regulating mild high and low blood pressure).
• Ginsenoside -- a family of steriod-like compounds known as saponins which are the active ingredients in the ginseng plant. There are more than 25 saponin triterpenoid glycosides called ginsenosides, the 7 major ones of which are Rg1, Re, Rf, Rb1, Rc, Rb2 and Rd with the subscript letters referring to the distance the compound moves on the chromatograph. Analysis -- six glycosides called panoxosides and six sapogenins which can be cleaved from them are active substances:
1. panaquilon -- mildly increases endocrine activity;
2. panaxapogenol -- mildly increases metabolic activity;
3. Panaxin -- mildly stimulates the circulation;
4. Panacene -- mildly stimulates the digestive process;
5. Panaxadiol (root extract)
6. Panaxatriol (root).

• Chinese Wild Imperial (or Manchurian) wild root found now quite rarely in China and bringing extremely high prices (thousands of dollars per pound) depending on age and shape of the root.
• Korean and Chinese Red -- wild or cultivated Chinese and Korean root depends on color imparted by curing process.
• Korean White -- slightly lower price than the red grade.
• American Wild -- defined above.
• Japanese and American Cultivated

• Wild-crafting (sanging) -- harvesting wild ginseng which is growing in the natural state in forested areas of native habitat
• Field Cultivated Ginseng -- plants grown under artificial shade but requiring a large investment of time, money and equipment. Labor may run at $30,000 plus an acre and gross returns of $100,000 after four years -- but this figure is subject to fluctuating market prices of this lowest grade of ginseng. These cultivated fields are subject to mold and other plant diseases and so commercial chemical pesticide treatment is the ordinary practice. The product is not organic.
• Woodsgrown Ginseng -- raised under natural tree canopy in forestlands. Some maintenance is required and intensive cultivation methods may maximize yield in minimal time. Investment costs are less than field cultivated Ginseng and applications of pesticides and fertilizers are sometimes less but the product is not organic. The market price is higher than field-grown ginseng but not near that of wild ginseng.
• Wild-Simulated Ginseng -- a type of cultivated ginseng which uses the natural tree canopy as shade. Some maintenance is required and intensive cultivation methods may be used to maximize yields in minimal time. The general process involves removing part of the forest understory from a certain plot, raking away leaf litter, sowing ginseng seed on the scratched surface, and raking back leaf litter. This method uses, at most, little pesticides, and the product may or may not be organic ginseng. However, the harvesting is on a single basis and land must be left unplanted for a number of years after harvesting. Prices could approach those of wild ginseng.
• Virtually Wild Ginseng -- a type of wild ginseng which is sown in a natural fashion in a suitable ginseng-growing woodlands with natural tree canopy and with no disturbance of the leaf litter, except to insert the seed. This method does not use pesticides and the product is organic ginseng, but the crop can be harvested selectively over an indefinite period of time with no major cessation of the total ginseng growing area.

• Cultivator -- a person who cultivates ginseng using an artificial canopy or other methods associated with tillage.
• Grower -- a person who grows ginseng to sell (cultivator, wild simulated or virtually wild grower).
• Wild crafter or sanger -- a person who harvests wild ginseng; these include two varieties: more traditional harvesters who dug from given areas after seeds had matured in late summer and who put seed into the nearby ground; and opportunists who being aware of the immense value of ginseng hunt it in or out of season and who are not sensitive to the maturity of the plant.

• Dried or Cured Ginseng -- ginseng root that has been dried in the shade -- never by artificial heat or direct sun light as this causes spotting of the roots.
• Green Ginseng -- ginseng root from which the moisture has not been removed by drying.
• Stratified Seed -- ginseng seed that the grower has begun to mature in an easily accessible holding container, submerged in soil, so that the earth will furnish the required moisture for germination.

• Ginseng Regulatory Agency -- the governmental office that handles a part of the growing, marketing, and use of ginseng.
• State Department of Agriculture -- state regulations
• Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of Interior) -- ginseng may only be exported from states which have ginseng management programs
• U.S. Forest Service (Department of Agriculture) harvesting on federal lands
• Food and Drug Administration -- regulation of ginseng sold as a medicinal.

• Grower license -- an annual permit issued by the Department of Agriculture, which enables a person to grow ginseng for sale.
• Crafter license -- an annual permit issued by the Department of Agriculture, which enables a certified crafter to harvest wild ginseng in permitted areas.
• Dealer license -- an annual permit issued by the Department of Agriculture, which enables a person to buy wild ginseng for resale.
• Buyer -- indefinite term which may refer to wholesale or retail purchasers as well as ultimate consumers.

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