above I 1,000 feet. In the late spring the moth leaves its pupa and 

 shortly lays eggs. In the short Himalayan season, the eggs soon 

 hatch and a small larva develops. The spores of Cordyceps are 

 scattered in the soil, and. as the worm burrows through the 

 earth, it picks them up. The spores germinate and enter the 

 worm's body cavity through the breathing pore. As the larvae 

 grows, the hyphae multiply, and. by the end of the summer, all 

 the worm organs have been thoroughlv parasitised. The worm 

 dies, and the hyphae consume everything inside the skin of the 

 animal, and the body of the insect is functionally transformed 

 into a sclerotium. The sclerotium settles on the base of the alpine 

 grasses to overwinter. By September, it is buried by the deep 

 Himalayan snow. 



In late April, as the snow recedes, the spring meltwater satu- 

 rates the dormant sclerotia of the Cordyceps, and as the dry 

 mycelia absorb water, they enhirge and push up a \ertical 

 stroma. This stroma develops in late May, when only spotted 

 thin patches of snow remain. By this time the Yung tribesmen 

 have arrived at their alpine camps which are established specifi- 

 cally for the harvest of the Cordyceps. The experienced Yung 

 spot the dark stroma against the backdrop of the receding snow- 

 fields. The Yung remain in their alpine camps for several weeks, 

 drying the Cordyceps in the evenings over small fires. When the 

 harvest is complete and before leaving the highlands, the Yung 

 burn the alpine meadows to remove the excess grass cover so 

 that the stroma are highly visible the following year. These fires 

 remove only the superficial vegetation without damaging the 

 underlying sod. The Hepialus larva are safely protected at the 

 base of the grass blades at the surface of the soil. Cordyceps 

 sinensis represents one of the few species of Ascomycetes that is 

 semi-cultivated. 



Cordyceps sinensis is rather rare and is much valued by the 

 Yung; a pound of the fungus represents a fortune. The Yung sell 

 theiV harvest to itinerant merchants who assemble a dozen or 

 more individual sclerotia into small bundles and tie them with 

 red thread. The red thread is significant, as red is the Chinese 

 colour of good fortune and good omens. Interestingly, a bundle 

 of Cordyceps collected by the French expedition to Hankow in 



63 



