Abstract
Freshly harvested, immature (green) seeds of North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) were stratified for up to 3 years in plastic pails in controlled environment rooms at $5{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ for 9 months and then $21{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ for 3 months (Trt. 1, regular stratification), or continuously at $-2{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$ (Trt. 2), or continuously at $3{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$ (Trt. 3). During stratification at -2 and $3^{\circ}C$ embryos did not grow. On seeding in the field embryos grew rapidly and resultant seedlings were comparable to those from regularly stratified seed. Seedling emergence rate was acceptable at the industry expected rate of 68% after one year of storage, but not after two years storage when it declined to 17.5%. Seed rot was so severe in year 3 that no planting was carried out. Seedling and second year growth were similar at the three stratification temperatures; most importantly, root dry weight (economic yield) was similar. Low-temperature storage of freshly-harvested North American ginseng seed is an acceptable method for short-term retention of propagating material.