The harvesting of wild American ginseng (panax quinquefolium), the gnarled, aromatic herb known for its therapeutic and healing properties, is deeply established in North America and has played an especially vital role in the southern and central Appalachian Mountains. Traded through a trans-Pacific network that connected the region to East Asian markets, ginseng was but one of several medicinal Appalachian plants that entered international webs of exchange. As the production of patent medicines and botanical pharmaceutical products escalated in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, southern Appalachia emerged as the United States' most prolific supplier of many species of medicinal plants. The region achieved this distinction because of its biodiversity and the persistence of certain common rights that guaranteed widespread access to the forested mountainsides, regardless of who owned the land. Following the Civil War, root digging and herb gathering became one of the most important ways landless families and small farmers earned income from the forest commons. This boom influenced class relations, gender roles, forest use, and outside perceptions of Appalachia, and began a widespread renegotiation of common rights that eventually curtailed access to ginseng and other plants. Based on extensive research into the business records of mountain entrepreneurs, country stores, and pharmaceutical companies, Ginseng Diggers: A History of Root and Herb Gathering in Appalachia is the first book to unearth the unique relationship between the Appalachian region and the global trade in medicinal plants. Historian Luke Manget expands our understanding of the gathering commons by exploring how and why Appalachia became the nation's premier purveyor of botanical drugs in the late-nineteenth century and how the trade influenced the way residents of the region interacted with each other and the forests around them.
Cultivitation, history, creating a ginseng garden, establishing healthy growing conditions, and finding the plant in the wild.
Ginseng Dreams: The Secret World of America’s Most Valuable Plant unfolds ginseng’s past and its future through the stories of seven people whose lives have become inextricably bound to it: a huckster, a field researcher, a farmer, a ...
As the world’s foremost authority on wild ginseng, McGraw is uniquely poised to present this story based on over twenty years of uninterrupted field research.
40 Barnes, Needles, Herbs, Gods, and Ghosts, 294. 41 Barnes, Needles, Herbs, Gods, and Ghosts, 294. 42 Barnes, Needles, Herbs, Gods, and Ghosts, 294. 43 “Miscellaneous: Chinese Delicacies,” The Manchester Guardian, April 22, 1848; ...
In Ginseng, the Divine Root, documentarian and author David Taylor tracks the path of this fascinating plant?from the forests east of the Mississippi to the bustling streets of Hong Kong and the remote corners of China.
Chʻing Ginseng Management: Chʻing Monopolies in Microcosm
The premier book on ginseng growing covers: PLANT DESCRIPTION LAWS EFFECTING HARVEST TOOLS FOR) HARVESTING WILD GINSENG HUNTING THE WILD ROOT REPLANTING YOUR ROOTS PLANTING YOUR WILD ROOTS SITE SELECTION AIR-FLOW-ABILITY CAN'T GROW TWICE ...
" With over 100 glorious full-color photographs and insightful text, Kentucky's Last Great Places highlights the incredible natural beauty found in the Commonwealth's old-growth forests, prairies, wetlands, and other distinctive...
The author of all synonyms listed below, except where noted, is L.H. Bailey. R. allegheniensis Porter. Common b. Various open woodland and disturbed habitats. Across KY. Frequent. FACU–.
The Rediscovery of North America is a ringingly persuasive call for us, at long last, to make this country our home.