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Aralia ginseng (C. A. Meyer) Baillon; A. quinquefolia (Linnaeus) Decaisne & Planchon var. ginseng (C. A. Meyer) Anon- ymous; Panax quinquefolius Linnaeus var. ginseng (C. A. Meyer) Regel & Maack; P. schin-seng T. Nees.

Herbs, perennial, 30-60 cm tall. Rootstock usually with 1- or 2-fascicled roots, fusiform or cylindric. Leaves 3-6, verticillate at apex of stem, palmately compound; petiole base without stipule or stipulelike appendages; leaflets 3-5, membranous, abaxially glabrous, adaxially sparsely setose (trichomes ca. 1 mm), base broadly cuneate, margin densely serrulate, apex long acuminate; central leaflet elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 8-12 × 3-5 cm; lateral leaflets ovate to rhombic-ovate, 2-4 × 1.5-3 cm. Inflorescence a solitary, terminal umbel 30-50-flowered; peduncle 15-30 cm, usually longer than petiole; pedicels 0.8-1.5 cm. Ovary 2-carpellate; styles 2, distinct. Fruit red, compressed-globose, 4-5 × 6-7 mm; seeds nephroid, white. 2n = 48*.

Mixed forests, deciduous broad-leaved forests. E Heilongjiang, E Jilin, E Liaoning; recently cultivated in Hebei and Shanxi [Korea, E Russia].

This species is used medicinally.