While American ginseng finds itself endangered in the wild from commercial exploitation and overharvesting, it’s smaller cousin dwarf ginseng (Panax trifolius) remains locally abundant, under-utilized, and less than understood. Dwarf ginseng is most abundant in the north, especially in Pennsylvania, the northeastern New England states, southern Canada, and Michigan and Wisconsin. It’s native range extends further south, down the spine of the Appalachian mountains into some parts of the southeast.
Old-timers called dwarf ginseng “groundnut,” but it is not to be confused with Apios americana, which also shares in that name. It was called groundnut for the flavor of its root… crisp, sweet, and nutty, with just a hint of that distinctive medicinal flavor character of ginseng family plants. The ginseng family, Araliaceae, is kin to the carrot family Apiaceae, and together they contain some of the world’s best edible and medicinal root plants.