Abstract: In order to carry out research on the geographical characteristics of American ginseng, a method of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) combined with microwave digestion was established. The results showed that 50 inorganic elements in American ginseng had good linearity and correlation coefficients were all greater than 0.999 4. The limits of detection (LODs) were in the range of 0.000 6-8.680 0 μg/L. And the recoveries were between 85.53% and 116.27%. The national standard material of Astragalus membranaceus (GBW10028) was determined for 6 times in parallel. The measured values were all in the range of standard values apart from Zn, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) of six times of measurements were 0.37%-19.64%. These data indicated that the accuracy and precision were reliable. According to the results of the measurement, the element fingerprints of 17 American ginseng samples produced in Weihai city, Shandong province were constructed by transforming data into graphics. And the standard element fingerprint was established by using the average element contents. The range of similarity degrees between the element fingerprints of 17 American ginseng samples and the standard element fingerprint were from 0.925 3 to 0.995 1, which were calculated by the vector similarity method. It showed that the established element fingerprints were feasible and the similarity threshold of American ginseng from Shandong province was defined as 0.93, and it was used to identify the origin of American ginseng. If the similarity degree between the element fingerprints of unknown American ginseng samples and the standard element fingerprint was higher than 0.93, the origin of unknown American ginseng would be regarded as Weihai city. 22 batches of American ginseng samples of other origins were used for origin verification, the accuracy rate of origin discrimination was 95.5%. The results indicated that the element fingerprint could be used to identify the origin of American ginseng. This study revealed the abundant element information of American ginseng and established a method to discriminate the origin of American ginseng by element fingerprint.