Eleutherococcus senticosus (formerly Acanthopanax senticosus) is a species of small, woody shrub in the family Araliaceae native to Northeastern Asia. It is often colloquially referred to as Siberian Ginseng, eleuthero or Ciwujia, and is sometimes shortened to E. senticosus in medical literature. E. senticosus has been studied as an adaptogen, and has a history of use in Chinese medicine.
E. senticosus was previously marketed in the United States as Siberian Ginseng because it has similar herbal properties to those of Panax ginseng. However, it belongs to a different genus in the family Araliaceae, and it is currently illegal in the United States to market eleuthero as Siberian Ginseng, since the term "ginseng" is reserved for the Panax species.
E. senticosus is an adaptogen that has a wide range of health benefits attributed to its use. Currently, most of the research to support the medicinal use of E. senticosus is in Russian or Korean.