Al, the number of prongs is a rough approximation of age. Here in Indiana, it is illegal to harvest a plant with less than 3 prongs. Usually, a ginseng plant will not bear seeds until its third season, so while not unheard of, it's just a curiosity that a plant this young would do so.
When the plant has its foliage, you count the prongs....after it's dug, you judge the age of the root by the bud scars on the rhizome. The older the better ($$), but it better have at least 4 internodes (bud scars) on the root....hefty fines if it doesn't, and proving that this was a plant that you planted from seed and was not dug wild, is very tough to do.
