Wildgrowing ginseng ( Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is an endangered medicinal plant. The domestication of the "root of life" started as early as in the first cen� tury BC and was intended to replenish the resources of this valuable herbal remedy. However, in the case of the artificial reproduction of this plant, its medicinal properties become worse, and the content of ginseno� sides, its basic biologically active compounds, decreases (1). The nature of this phenomenon is poorly studied. It is known that the chemical compo� sition of ginseng leaves is determined by the ecological strategy of this species and naturally varies within the Grime's row of strategy types: stresstolerant (S), competitive (C), and ruderal (R) (2). The type of eco� logical strategy is genetically determined and can be experimentally identified on the basis of morphologi� cal and functional plant characteristics (3-6). According to Grime (3), most agricultural plant spe� cies (maize, sunflower, barley, etc.) are characterized by a combined competitive-ruderal strategy, whereas wildgrowing ginseng is characterized by a stresstol� erant strategy (7). However, this strategy does not pro� vide a high biomass output and cannot serve as a basis for the selection process during the domestication. We have put forward and tested the hypothesis that the domestication of a stresstolerant species is connected with changes in its adaptation strategy. rangements at the nody, tissue, cellular, biochemical, and molecular genetic levels of a plant organization. The trend of the revealed morphofunctional rearrange� ments indicates the weakening of "stresstolerant" and the enhancement of "competitive" and "ruderal" prop� erties of ginseng plants. These changes in the adaptation strategy may be the reason for the decrease in the sec� ondary metabolism activity and in the content of ginse� nosides during ginseng domestication process.