| Cordyceps | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cordyceps militaris | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Sordariomycetes |
| Order: | Hypocreales |
| Family: | Cordycipitaceae |
| Genus: | Cordyceps Fr. (1818) |
| Type species | |
| Cordyceps militaris (L.) Fr. (1818)
| |
Cordyceps /ˈkɔːrdɪsɛps/ is a genus of ascomycete fungi (sac fungi) that includes about 60 species worldwide. Diverse variants of cordyceps have had more than 1,500 years of use in Chinese medicine.[1] Most Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods (they are thus entomopathogenic fungi); a few are parasitic on other fungi.[2]
The generic name Cordyceps is derived from the ancient Greek κορδύλη kordýlē, meaning "club", and the Latin -ceps, meaning "-headed".[3] The genus has a worldwide distribution, with most of the known species[4] being from Asia (Nepal, China, Japan, Bhutan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand).
- ^ Buenz, E. J.; B. A. Bauer; Osmundson, T. W. & Motley, T. J. (2005). "The traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis and its effects on apoptotic homeostasis". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 96 (1–2): 19–29. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2004.09.029. PMID 15588646.
- ^ Nikoh, N (April 2000). "Interkingdom host jumping underground: phylogenetic analysis of entomoparasitic fungus of the genus cordyceps". Mol Biol Evol. 17 (4): 629–38. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026341. PMID 10742053.
- ^ "Cordyceps". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ Sung, Gi-Ho; Nigel L. Hywel-Jones; Jae-Mo Sung; J. Jennifer Luangsa-ard; Bhushan Shrestha & Joseph W. Spatafora (2007). "Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi". Stud Mycol. 57 (1): 5–59. doi:10.3114/sim.2007.57.01. PMC 2104736. PMID 18490993.