Joseph Horne, age 12, of Whitley City, Ky., for his question:

WHAT IS GINSENG?

Ginseng is an herb used as a medicine. It has a long, fleshy root below a low plant. Each leaf is made up of five leaflets, and the plant also produces small, greenish yellow flowers. Scarlet berries are also produced.

The plant's name comes from the Chinese words meaning likeness of a man. The name came about because the root of the plant is shaped somewhat like that of a human body.

It is said that American ginseng is better than Chinese or Korean types. The plant grows wild in some parts of Canada and the United States, but demand for the root has caused the wild supply to dwindle. It is now cultivated in Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin. The Chinese use ginseng to treat many diseases.