Oplopanax

Description

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. The species have spiny stems, large palmately lobed leaves, and whitish or greenish flowers occurring in terminal panicles. The fruit is a small spherical red drupe, popular with birds. Oplopanax species are closely related to American ginseng. The plant was used in traditional Native American medicine. Ginseng is any one of the 11 species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae. Ginseng is found in North America and in eastern Asia (mostly northeast China, Korea, Bhutan, eastern Siberia), typically in cooler climates. Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng known. This article focuses on the species of the series Panax, called Panax ginseng and P. quinquefolius. Ginseng is characterized by the presence of ginsenosides and gintonin.