Scarlet caterpillar club
Cordyceps militaris · 蛹虫草
Rare虫草科💊 Medicinal
Traditionally used as a medicinal ingredient, not as food.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- Orange and club-shaped, tip finely granular on the surface
- Emerges from a pupa buried in soil or under leaf litter
- Grows in forest leaf litter, common in autumn
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 虫草科
- Hymenium
- Smooth
- Grows On
- Insects
- How Big
- 2–6 cm (overall size)
- Encounter Rate
- Rare
- Habitat
- Buried moth pupae in woodland soil
Easily Confused With
Poison fire coralScarlet caterpillar club is an orange club rising from an insect body, with a granular tip; poison fire coral rises from soil or rotting wood, antler-like.Fun Fact
Unlike wild caterpillar fungus, it can be mass-cultivated on a rice-based substrate; its orange-red fruiting bodies are sold in markets as 'northern caterpillar fungus.'
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