The State Division of Forestry estimates 10,000 West Virginians harvested 6,400 pounds last fall that were worth more than $2 million. West Virginia has estimated 95 million ginseng plants, but they are not easy to find. The slow-growing herb-root takes 18 months to germinate, then eight to 15 years to mature.
West Virginia University biologist James McGraw gives warning that slow-growing American ginseng could be extinct in 100 years due to consumption or destruction by man and deer. (Source: AsianWeek, Feb. 18, 2005)