Medicinals
dōng chóng xià cǎo / 冬虫夏草 / 冬蟲夏草 / cordyceps;
Latin pharmacognostic name: Cordyceps
Alternate English names: vegetable caterpillar; aweto
Alternate Chinese names: 夏草冬虫 xià cǎo dōng chóng; 冬虫草 dōng chóng cǎo; 虫草 chóng cǎo
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Supplementing agents / Yáng-supplementing agents
Properties: Sweet; balanced. (Some sources say warm.)
Channel entry: lung and kidney channels.
Indications:
- Boosts the kidney and invigorates yáng: Kidney vacuity with lumbar pain, impotence, or seminal emission.
- Supplements the lung and calms panting: Lung vacuity or kidney-lung dual vacuity patterns of enduring cough and vacuity panting or taxation cough with phlegm containing blood.
- Additional actions and indications: In addition to supplementing the lung and kidney and calming panting and cough, dōng chóng xià cǎo can stanch bleeding and transform phlegm.
- Modern research suggests that it also benefits the immune system.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 4.5–9g in decoctions; use in pills and powders.
Warning:
Not to be used alone in yīn vacuity with effulgent fire.
Notes:
The medicinal substance Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc., is a fungus that infects an insect known as Hepialus armoricanus Oberthür.
Product Description:
This is the larva of the moth Hepialus armoricanus joined to the stroma of Cordyceps sinensis. The larva is about 3–6 cm long, and 0.4–0.7 cm thick. It is a yellow brown and is rough, with many transverse markings. It has eight pairs of stumpy legs on the ventral side, the four pairs in the middle section of the body being the most evident. On the transverse section it is white or slightly yellow, a deep yellow at the margins. The stroma grows out of the head of the larva. It is club-shaped, swelling out in the final half and then tapering to the tip. It is brown, or blackish brown and is 4–8 cm long, and 0.3 cm in diameter. It is snapped open to reveal the white interior tissue and a hollow core.
Quality:
Large fat larvae with yellow insides and short stroma are the best.
Product Area:
Sìchuān, Yúnnán.
Etymology:
The name dōng chóng xià cǎo 冬虫夏草, literally ""winter grub summer grass,"" reflects the fact that this is a parasite that grows in the summer out of a caterpillar that died the previous winter.