Medicinal and tea
Cordyceps
Cordyceps militaris
Never eat a wild-foraged mushroom you identified from a website, this one included. Wild mushroom misidentification can be fatal, and no page can rule a specimen IN. This reference is about cultivated and shop-bought mushrooms only: species you buy, or grow from bought spawn, where there is nothing to identify. To identify anything wild, consult a qualified local expert holding the actual specimen, never a description on a screen.
Also sold as
- Scarlet caterpillarclub
- Orange cordyceps
In the kitchen
Flavour
Mild; used as an ingredient in broths and teas rather than eaten for taste.
Texture
Small orange club-shaped fruits, usually dried before use.
In the kitchen
Simmered into broths and teas or sold as a powder or extract. Read the label: most supplements are the cultivated Cordyceps militaris or a mycelium-on-grain product, not the wild caterpillar fungus of the traditional literature. Health claims sit outside what this reference documents.
How it is cultivated
Substrate
Sterilised grain or a rice-based medium with supplements, grown under light, which the fruit needs to form and to colour.
Fruiting temperature
18-23°C (64-73°F)
Humidity
85-95% relative humidity
How it is grown
Sterilised grain or rice medium, under light
Time to first harvest
Roughly 2 to 3 months
How much, how long
A crop of small orange clubs per jar
Difficulty at home
Advanced. A laboratory-style grow: sterile jars, controlled light and a long cycle put it beyond a casual first attempt.
What is worth knowing about it
The cordyceps of the supplement shelf is almost always the cultivated Cordyceps militaris grown on grain, not the wild Himalayan Ophiocordyceps sinensis harvested from caterpillars at extraordinary prices. Those are different things at different prices, which is the single most useful thing a buyer can know.
Elsewhere on the site
Sources
- Wikipedia, Cordyceps militaris
- Stamets, Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms
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