Caterpillar Fungus

Cordyceps sinensis (renamed Ophiocordyceps sinensis by modern systematics) is one of the rarest and most prized plant-fungi in the world.

Its name 冬虫夏草 means literally “worm in winter, grass in summer”, it describes the organism’s extraordinary life cycle: through the winter, the fungus parasitises and mummifies the caterpillar of a moth of the genus Hepialus buried in the soil of the Tibetan plateaux above 3500 m; in spring, it raises from the caterpillar’s head a small brownish-black stroma that emerges into the alpine grass.

The harvest, done by hand and costly, takes place at the snowmelt. A treasure plant of Tibet, Bhutan and Qinghai, whose prices can reach several tens of thousands of euros a kilo for the higher grades. The 4 g format matches the rarity of the product.

The tradition places it at the head of the Yin and Yang supplementing registers at once (a great rarity in the pharmacopoeia), and within the Metal Phase register (the deep breath) and the Water Phase register (the Yang foundations).

Traditionally used for constitutions of much-weakened foundations, constitutions under deep rebuilding, and constitutions worn by age or by hardship.

A luxury herb, once reserved for emperors and Taoist elites; today also grown in the laboratory (mycelial forms, more affordable, distinct from the wild stroma, which remains the gold standard).

• Slow decoction: 3 to 9 g (with us, the 4 g format corresponds to a short, targeted use), simmer for 30 to 40 minutes
• Supplementing broth: add 2 to 3 stromata to a duck or chicken soup simmered for 1 hour, a luxury culinary tradition
• Fine powder: 0.5 to 1 g of powder taken separately in honey, a thrifty way of using it
• Wild / cultivated distinction: the whole wild stroma (our product) is the gold standard; the mycelial forms grown in the laboratory are ranged close to it but remain distinct

A precious herb to be handled with discernment. To be used with care if you are already under a practitioner’s care.

Not for constitutions of settled heat from excess.

Storage: away from light, damp and insects (the stromata can attract moths).