Deer seen as threat to medicinal plant

MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Feb. 11 (UPI) -- An abundant deer population with a hearty appetite for American ginseng may threaten survival of the widely harvested medicinal plant.

A study by West Virginia University biologists suggests that ginseng, a wild herb that inhabits eastern deciduous forests from Maine to Georgia, faces extinction within 100 years if foraging by deer continues at its current rate.

James McGraw and Mary Ann Furedi reported their findings in Friday's issue of Science, the flagship journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

American ginseng grows under forest canopies in well-drained, nutrient-rich soils. The plant consists of green leaves, red berries and gnarly roots whose touted medicinal qualities range from improving mental performance to being a cure-all.

Asians have sworn by these medicinal qualities for centuries, and the high demand for ginseng in that corner of the world has made it a cash crop in Appalachia.