Panax

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The Panax (ginseng) genus belongs to the Araliaceae<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> (ivy) family. Panax species are characterized by the presence of ginsenosides and gintonin. Panax is one of approximately 60 plant genera with a classical disjunct east Asian and east North American distribution.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Furthermore, this disjunct distribution is asymmetric as only two of the ~18 species in genus are native to North America.

Etymology

American ginseng at Monk Garden in Wisconsin .

The name Panax, meaning "all-healing" in Greek, shares the same origin as "panacea" and was used for this genus because Carl Linnaeus was aware of its wide use in Chinese medicine.Template:Citation needed

Panax species

Genus Panax<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Subgenus Panax

Section Panax

Series Notoginseng

Panax notoginseng (Burkill) F.H.Chen (known as san qi, tian qi or tien chi)

Series Panax

Panax arunachalensis Taram, A.P.Das & Tag<ref name="POWO_77206369-1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=TaraDasTag18>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Panax assamicus (Assam Ginseng) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Panax bipinnatifidus Seem. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

var. angustifolius (Burkill) J.Wen

Panax ginseng C.A.Mey. (Asian ginseng, Chinese ginseng, Korean ginseng, Asiatic ginseng, Oriental ginseng)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Panax japonicus (T.Nees) C.A.Mey. (Japanese ginseng)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Panax quinquefolius L. (American ginseng)

Panax sokpayensis Shiva K.Sharma & Pandit <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Panax siamensis J. Wen, 2023

Panax vietnamensis Ha & Grushv.

Panax wangianus S.C.Sun <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Panax zingiberensis C.Y.Wu & Feng

Section Pseudoginseng

Panax pseudoginseng Wall.

Panax stipuleanatus H.T.Tsai & K.M.Feng <ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Subgenus Trifolius

Panax trifolius L.

Hybrids:

Panax ginseng × Panax quinquifolius (F1 male sterile, roots bigger than parents)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Panax japonicus f. typicum × Panax quinquifolius<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Phylogeny

Based on chloroplast genomes (Manzanilla et al. 2018 and Xia et al. 2025):<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:Clade

Note: Plants of the World Online treats P. major Template:Au as a junior synonym of P. bipinnatifidus. Flora of China treats it as P. japonicus var. major Template:Au.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>