Yarsagumba word is a mishmash of two Tibetan words that means 'summer plant, winter insect'. The mushroom takes nourishment form the unsuspecting larva, eventually killing and effectively mummifying it. The fruit body of the mushroom is dark brown to black to black in color and the 'root' of the organism, which has invaded the larva body, is yellow or brown. This strange herb grows to maturity, then stays in the ground over winter, and is the harvested each spring by scores of villagers who comb the high Himalayan meadows in search of it.
Chinese herdsmen noticed that their cattle and livestock became energetic after eating a grass-like mushroom; even older cattle displayed a vigorous behavior
Clinical studies in China indicate that the fungus can improve liver functions, reduce cholesterol, adjust protein metabolism, improve immune functions, inhibit lung carcinoma and have a therapeutic value in treating aging disorders.
Even though Yarchagumba is a well known (and costly) Chinese traditional medicine, its high commercial demand as tonic/aphrodisiac is ever increasing. Cordycepts sinensis is better as dongchong xiacao in Chinese, semitake in Japanese and Yarchagumba in Tibetan, all meaning ‘winter insect summer plant.’ In reality, it is two organisma, the larva of the Himalayan bat moth and Cordyceps fungus. The spores attack the larva while it lives beneath the ground effectively mummifying it before the mushroom sprouts out of its body.
Known in Latin as Cordyceps sinensis which literally means summer plant and winter insectm the raw herb is found in alpine and sub-alpine zone in a range of 3600 – 4,200 metres above the sea level. The herb is primarily found in Nepali Himalaya, Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan, and in the Sichuan, Qinghai, Xizang and Yunnan provinces of China.
The last 4years has witnessed the boom of the Yarchagumba trade in full-swing and the benefits of the trade has, as expected, lured groups of traders from near and far. These groups of traders form effective cartels, so that the villagers collecting Yarchagumba are required to approach them for sale of the herbs, the traders normally reserve their stock by offering money in advance. It’s tonic powers are legion and its popularity is widespread throughout Asia, especially in china, Japan, Korea, India, thailand and Hong kong. Take yarsagumba. Toothache ? – yarsagumba. Stomach ache ? – yarsagumba. Impotent ?

Yarchaguma gold of nepal [1]