"American ginseng, Panax guinquefolius, is considered a valuable forest resource in Pennsylvania.

Historically it has been found, and harvested, in nearly every county in the commonwealth. George Washington wrote, in 1784, of meeting ginseng collectors on their way to Philadelphia to market their product. Washington was likely crossing the Laurel Highlands when the incident occurred.

Another example, from July 1783, is provided by the Bavarian scholar Johann Schöpf who, while traveling through Laurel Hill (somewhere near the border of and Fayette counties), noted the following:

A man met us who was taking to some five hundred pounds of ginseng-roots on two horses. He hoped to make a great profit because throughout the [Revolutionary] war little of this article was gathered, and it was now demanded in quantity by certain Frenchmen. The hunters collect it incidentally in their wanderings; in these mountains the plant is still common, but in the lower parts it has pretty well disappeared...Much is brought into Fort Pitt Pittsburgh. Industrious people who went out for the purpose have gathered as much as sixty pounds in one day.”

Today “sang,” as the plant is known, is still gathered in Pennsylvania and marketed abroad. It is estimated that seven million individual plants may have been harvested since 1989. Harvesting certainly is taking place faster than replacement. Altering forest habitat through harvesting of woody species may also have reduced available environment for ginseng growth."