Wild American Ginseng
Lessons for Conservation in the Age of Humans
Title Details
Pages: 240
Illustrations: 39 b&w images
Trim size: 6.000in x 9.000in
Formats
Paperback
Pub Date: 02/01/2023
ISBN: 9-780-8203-6198-7
List Price: $28.95
Web PDF
Pub Date: 02/01/2023
ISBN: 9-780-8203-6880-1
List Price: $28.95
Hardcover
Pub Date: 02/01/2023
ISBN: 9-780-8203-6267-0
List Price: $114.95
Web PDF
Pub Date: 02/01/2023
ISBN: 9-780-8203-6268-7
List Price: $28.95
Related Subjects
Wild American Ginseng
Lessons for Conservation in the Age of Humans
A deep dive into the ecology and complicated nature of this sought-after wild root
Skip to
- Description
- Reviews
Wild American ginseng, America’s most famous medicinal plant, is in trouble. In plain prose, James McGraw explains why as he translates the latest in ecological and conservation science findings on this unassuming understory herb. As the world’s foremost authority on wild ginseng, McGraw is uniquely poised to present this story based on more than twenty years of uninterrupted field research.
McGraw traces the dramatic ecological history of ginseng in North America, documenting the ginseng-centric view of a world increasingly dominated by both direct and indirect actions of humans. Far more than a story of a single plant species, ginseng becomes a parable, a canary in a coal mine, for what is happening to our dwindling wild species across the globe. Documenting lingchi (death by a thousand cuts) in human interactions with wild species, McGraw shows us the evidence of our slowly eroding biodiversity and our diminishing global biotreasury.
Beyond merely documenting our destruction of nature, McGraw also offers a pathway to an optimistic future for ginseng and the wild species with whom we share the planet. He illuminates how a dramatic expansion of our commitment to sharing the planet with our fellow planetary companions is the key to preservation; and now is the time to do so.
—Eric Burkhart, program director, Appalachian Botany and Ethnobotany, Shaver's Creek Environmental Center
—Susan Leopold, executive director, United Plant Savers
—Robert Layton Beyfuss, Cornell extension, author of The Practical Guide to Growing Ginseng
—Paul Hsu, founder, Hsu’s Ginseng Enterprises, Wausau, Wisconsin
—John Paul Schmidt, professor of ecology, University of Georgia