Ginseng harvest season opens Wednesday, Sept. 1, and continues through Tuesday, Nov. 30.
Observing the legal season and regulations helps preserve Appalachia’s endangered wild ginseng.
Harvesting pulls up the ginseng root, ending the plant’s ability to replace itself with new generations. To help the herb’s last seeds grow, the hunter must by law plant them at the site where the root was taken.
Before the plant can be legally harvested, ginseng must be at least five years old and its seed-bearing berries bright red. The slow-growing plant needs to mature for at least five years to reproduce. The plant’s age can be determined by looking at the base of the plant stem, where bud scars occur. A five-year-old ginseng root will have at least four scars.
Read more at My Buckhannon: