Dwarf Ginseng

Panax trifolius L. Sp. PI. 1059. 1753
Panax pusilla Sims, Bot. Mag. pi. 1334. 1810.
Aralia triphylla Poir. in Lam. Encyc. Suppl. 1: 418. 1811.
Panax lanceolatum Raf. Herb. Raf. 68. 1833 (nomen nudum); New Fl. 4: 57. 1838.
Aralia trifolia Dec. & Planch. Rev. Hortic. IV. 3: 105. 1854.
Ginseng trifolium Wood. Bot. & Fl. 142. 1870.
Herb, up to 20 (rarely to 30) cm. high; rootstock subglobose, up to 2 cm. in diameter; stem slender, subterete, often striate; leaves 3, 3-5-foliolate, the petiole up to 4 cm. long, the leaflets sessile (or the apical one short-petiolulate), thin, oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, up to 8 cm. long and 1.5 cm. broad (the basal ones smaller), acute to obtuse at the base and the apex, often doubly serrate, the teeth deltoid, acute, the costa slightly raised on both surfaces, the lateral veins few, ascending; peduncle slender, up to 8 cm. long, the bractlets lanceolate, about 2 mm. long; pedicels slender, 15-40 per umbel, up to 6 mm. long, slightly swollen distally; flowers polygamo-dioecious; in hermaphrodite flowers: calyx campanulate, at anthesis about 2 mm. long, 1-1.5 mm. broad, often contracted at the middle, 10-veined; petals white, rarely pink, membranous, ovate-oblong, 1-2 mm. long, less than 1 mm. broad, obtuse, the midnerve prominent, the veinlets faintly reticulate; filaments 1-1.5 mm. long, the anthers globoseoblong, about 0.5 mm. long; styles 3, straight, about 1 mm. long, slightly swollen distally; locules 3; in staminate flowers: calyx obconic, about 1 mm. long and broad or less, inconspicuously veined; ovary minute, sterile; fruit ovoid, 3-4 mm. in diameter, longitudinally trisulcate, the seeds 3, 2 mm. long or less.
Type locality: Virginia.
Distribution: Nova Scotia, southern Quebec, and Wisconsin, southward to Georgia and Kentucky.

Panax trifolius, commonly called dwarf ginseng, is plant native to the Northeastern and Appalachian regions of North America. It is found in low mesic woods with acidic soils.

It produces an umbel of white flowers in late spring. This species was used for traditional medicine by Native Americans. Its tubers can be eaten raw or boiled.