Resources for Mushroom Growers
Cordyceps Cultivation

Cordycep sinensis or as renamed Ophiocordyceps sinensis or commonly caterpillar fungus or Dong Chong Xia Cao, is a mushroom that grows as a parasite from larvae of the Thitarodes moth (ghost moth). There are many other potentental host species. In nature the moth larvae embed themselves in prairie soils in China, Tibet, India Bhutan and Nepal at elevations from 11,000 to 16,000 feet. The fungus attacks the larva and fruits out of its head. The trick has been getting this mushroom to grow under controlled conditions.

Researchers have produced Ophiocordyceps mycelia in liquid culture and produced fruiting bodies for many years. They have shown that the constituents of the cultivated fungus match those of the wild fungus. These researchers continue to improve their processes with the aim of achieving economic commercial production.