Prized Medicinal Plants and Animals

Caterpillar fungus

Ophiocordyceps sinensis

This queer-looking ingredient usually sold in Chinese medicine shops is actually an entomopathogenic fungus that grows out of caterpillars of the ghost moth, killing it and producing a long, thin mushroom. For this reason, its Chinese name reflects its identity as being both a worm and a “grass” in different seasons. It is found mainly in soft soil on mountains or well-drained grassy marshlands above 3,500 meteres in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet. Widely used as a medicine and tonic by Chinese for hundreds of years, the fungus, more commonly known as cordyceps, is taken to increase strength, rejuvenate the