Dr Takeshi Yamada. Flesh Eating Mushroom (Cordyceps)

Chinese Flesh Eating Mushroom (Cordyceps)

Other Common Names: Kachu-tousou (“insect in summer and plant in winter” in Japanese), Chinese Carnivorous Mushroom, Devil’s Golden Mushroom, Insectivorous Mushroom, ダイオオセミタケ (Daioosemitake), Cordyceps

Latin Name: Flammulina septendecim gigas

Size: 119 x 30x30 mm (including the juvenile cicada)

Description of the specimen: This well-preserved specimen of the Chinese Flesh Eating Mushroom (a species of cordyceps) growing on the back of a juvenile cicada was collected at the Sando (Pathway) of Tsurumi Jinjya (“Crane Observing” Shinto Shrine. Shinto is Japanese national religion) in Osaka, Japan. This is one of the extremely unique mushroom species which literally eat animal alive by taking nutrients directly from its host. Some grows as high as 12 inches. For many centuries, in the field of Kampoyaku in China and Japan, the dried and ground specimen of this variety of Chinese Flesh Eating Mushroom has been prescribed by Chinese pharmacies.

In ancient times, the Chinese Flesh Eating Mushroom in medicine was considered so auspicious that its medical efficacy has been attested to in the oldest Chinese medical text (presumed to be over 2,000 years old). The book, which is known in Japan as “Shinnoh Honsokyo”, is now accepted as being the original textbook of Oriental medical science. In it, 365 kinds of medicine are classified and explained. The medicines are basically classified into 3 categories: 120 of them are declared to be “superior” medicines, another 120 are classified as “average” medicines, and the remaining 125 are placed in the “fair” category. The “superior” medicines are called “God’s Herbs” and they are for perpetual youth and longevity - the medicines of the legendary wizards. The “average” category medicines are those which can be taken as a tonic, and those in the “fair” category are taken to remedy specific ailments. One must be careful about the volume taken of the “average” and “fair” category medicines, and should never take them continuously. However, the book states that for “superior” medicines, any amount can be taken as desired on a continuous basis with no unfavorable effects. Of the superior medicines listed in the text, the Flesh Eating Mushroom was rated number one. You can see how important and powerful Flesh Eating Mushroom was considered in ancient times. It achieved its ranking in the Chinese text not because of its symbolic importance as a good omen but because of its medicinal properties. Centuries ago, Flesh Eating Mushroom was said to be a medicine that would grant you eternal youth and longevity. But after 2,000 years, Flesh Eating Mushroom has jumped into the spotlight as a specific medicine for cancer. This must be a bitter irony for those in the modern medical profession who discounted the herbal remedies of Oriental medicine as being “old wives’ tales”.

Source: flickr.com