The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants commonly called the ginseng family. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely, but it is predominantly distinguishable based on its woody habit, tropical distribution, and the presence of simple umbels.
Pleione is a small genus of predominantly terrestrial but sometimes epiphytic or lithophytic, miniature orchids. This genus is named after Pleione, mother of the Pleiades, and comprises about 20 species. Common names of this genus include peacock orchid, glory of the east, Himalayan crocus, Indian crocus and windowsill orchid. The genus DiploconchiumSchauer is generally included here. Pleione is abbreviated to Pln in trade journals.
Devil's club or Devil's walking stick is a large understory shrub native to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, but also disjunct on islands in Lake Superior. It is noted for its large palmate leaves and erect, woody stems covered in noxious and irritating spines. It is also known as Alaskan ginseng and similar names, although it is not a true ginseng.
Ginseng is the root of plants in the genus Panax, such as Korean ginseng (P. ginseng), South China ginseng (P. notoginseng), and American ginseng (P. quinquefolius), characterized by the presence of ginsenosides and gintonin. Ginseng is common in the cuisines and medicines of China and Korea.
In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme hydrolysis, which causes the sugar part to be broken off, making the chemical available for use. Many such plant glycosides are used as medications. Several species of Heliconius butterfly are capable of incorporating these plant compounds as a form of chemical defense against predators. In animals and humans, poisons are often bound to sugar molecules as part of their elimination from the body.
Eleutherococcus senticosus is a species of small, woody shrub in the family Araliaceae native to Northeastern Asia. It may be colloquially called devil's bush, Siberian ginseng, taiga root, eleuthero, ciwujia, Devil's shrub, shigoka, touch-me-not, wild pepper, or kan jang. E. senticosus has a history of use in folklore and traditional Chinese medicine. Root extracts of E. senticosus are sold as a dietary supplement or cosmetic, usually under the name Siberian ginseng.
Panax ginseng, ginseng, also known as Asian ginseng, Chinese ginseng or Korean ginseng, is a species of plant whose root is the original source of ginseng. It is a perennial plant that grows in the mountains of East Asia.
Oplopanax is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, consisting of three species of deciduous shrubs, native to western North America and northeastern Asia. Oplopanax is closely related to the Asian genus Fatsia. There are three recognized species of Oplopanax in the world: Oplopanax elatus, Oplopanax horridus, Oplopanax japonicus.
Aralia nudicaulis is a species of flowering plant in the ivy family Araliaceae. It is native to northern and eastern North America.
Panax pseudoginseng is a species of plant in the family Araliaceae, native to Nepal and Tibet. Common names include pseudoginseng, Nepal ginseng and Himalayan ginseng. Pseudoginseng belongs to the same scientific genus as ginseng. In Latin, the word panax means "cure-all", and the family of ginseng plants is one of the best-known herbs.
Panax notoginseng is a species of the genus Panax, and it is commonly referred to in English as Chinese ginseng or notoginseng. In Chinese it is called tiánqī, tienchi ginseng, sānqī or sanchi, three-seven root, and mountain plant. P. notoginseng belongs to the same scientific genus as Panax ginseng. In Latin, the word panax means "cure-all", and the family of ginseng plants is one of the best-known herbs.
Nectria radicicola is a plant pathogen that is the causal agent of root rot and rusty root. Substrates include ginseng and Narcissus. It is also implicated in the black foot disease of grapevine. It is of the genus Nectria and the family Nectriaceae. N. radicicola is recognizable due to its unique anatomy, morphology, and the formation of its anamorph Cylindrocarpon desructans.
Yunnan Baiyao is a proprietary traditional Chinese medicine marketed and used as a hemostatic product in both human and veterinary alternative medicine. Although Yunnan Baiyao has long been recognized as a pharmaceutical preparation in China, the safety and efficacy of Yunnan Baiyao has not been assessed or established by the FDA, the European Medicines Agency, or the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration. There is limited evidence regarding its effectiveness in preventing and treating hemorrhagic and pathological conditions in both humans and animals via oral administration. In a limited number of human studies of small sample sizes, administration of Yunnan Baiyao has been shown to correlate with "reduced perioperative bleeding as well as bleeding in various ulcerative–hemorrhagic conditions". It has become popular particularly for animals with hemangiosarcoma. There are multiple routes of drug administration. Yunnan Baiyao is sold in powder, tincture, plaster, paste, aerosol, or tablet form. The medicine, developed by Qu Huangzhang in 1902, is designated as one of two Class-1 protected traditional Chinese medicines, which gives it 20 years of trade protection in China. Yunnan Baiyao products are manufactured and distributed by a state-owned enterprise, Yunnan Baiyao Group in Yunnan, China.
Ginsenosides or panaxosides are a class of natural product steroid glycosides and triterpene saponins. Compounds in this family are found almost exclusively in the plant genus Panax (ginseng), which has a long history of use in traditional medicine that has led to the study of pharmacological effects of ginseng compounds. As a class, ginsenosides exhibit a large variety of subtle and difficult-to-characterize biological effects when studied in isolation.
Panax vietnamensis or Vietnamese ginseng is a species of the ginseng genus Panax. In Vietnam the species, prized in herbal medicine, is commercially very valuable and now considered threatened.
American ginseng is a species of flowering plant in the ivy family Araliaceae. It is native to eastern North America and has been introduced into China. The specific epithet quinquefolius means "five-leaved", which refers to the typical number of leaflets per leaf. It is one of a group of taxa known as "ginseng".
Oplopanax japonicus is species of deciduous shrub that can grow as high as 3 m (9.8 ft) tall. The plant is densely packed with spikes and those spikes are irritant. This species belongs to a genus that is rich in calcium oxalate, which is toxic to the digestive system.
Paleopanax is an extinct genus of flowering plant in the Ginseng and Ivy family, Araliaceae, containing the single species Paleopanax oregonensis. The species is solely known from the middle Eocene sediments exposed in north central Oregon and was first described from a series of isolated fossil fruits in siltstones.
Panax trifolius, commonly called dwarf ginseng, is a plant native to the Northeastern and Appalachian regions of North America. It is found in low mesic woods with acidic soils.
Jun Wen is an evolutionary biologist and curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in the Department of Botany and has worked in the Laboratory of Molecular Systematics. She researches the monography, phylogenetics, biogeography, and ethnobotany of the plant families Araliaceae and Vitaceae. She has published over 190 scientific papers.
