A ballad circulated among the old ginseng farmers in Changbai Mountain succinctly summarizes the main characteristics of wild ginseng:

The reed bowls grow closely together, and the reeds and dates are round and round. Nucleus;

Tight skin with fine lines and pimples, and beards that are as long and clear as leather strips;

Pearl dots are dotted under the beards, which is the characteristic of wild ginseng.

Mountain ginseng and garden ginseng have different morphological characteristics due to different growth environments such as soil, climate, terrain, vegetation, etc., as well as differences in artificial cultivation and management. The main difference between the two underground parts is:

Reed head: The ginseng reed is slender, the lower part is smooth, the reed bowl disappears, the middle reed bowl is denser, not obvious, and almost disappears, the upper reed bowl is slightly larger Thinner. There are reed bowls on all sides of the rhizome. The reed bowls of garden ginseng are short and thick, not curved, and the reed bowls are large and sparse.

The gallbladder: the ginseng gallbladder is spindle-shaped or jujube-core shaped. Garden ginseng is cone-shaped and slender.

Skin: The old lines of wild ginseng skin are deep and spiral, with fine and continuous lines. The tender skin lines of garden ginseng are thick, shallow and incoherent.

Body (tap root): The body of wild ginseng is short and thick, rhombus-shaped or lumpy. The body of the garden ginseng is thick, long and straight.

Legs (lateral roots): Wild ginseng mostly has 2 to 3 legs, which are slightly thinner and have a large bifurcation angle, which is called the cross-sea style. There are 2 to 3 or more garden ginsengs, which are relatively thick and have small bifurcation angles. They grow straight or twisted together.

Beard: The beard of wild ginseng is slender and rare, tough, not easy to break, has obvious pearl spots, and the beard naturally spreads out in a flat shape. Garden ginseng must be dense and short, crisp and easy to break, with unobvious pearl points, and must naturally spread out in the shape of a pot brush.