Notes on the Medicinal Mushroom Chanhua (Cordyceps cicadae (Miq.) Massee)

Chanhua fungus is an important Traditional Chinese Medicine and has a history of use for about 1,500 years. Chanhua has commonly been referred to Cordyceps cicadae S.Z. Shing, Isaria cicadae, I. sinclairii, Ophiocordyceps sobolifera and by other names. This has resulted in taxonomic confusion and nomenclatural problems. The biology, ecology and host affiliation of Chanhua arc also poorly understood, and these restrict further development and application in various areas, especially in traditional medicine. In this paper, we reviewed the medicinal history and distribution of Chanhua and reinvestigated its phylogenetic relationships with allied species. Based on results obtained we clarified its taxonomy and reviewed its host and its biological and ecological aspects. The phylogeny based on ITS sequence data indicates that Chanhua is an independent species of the genus Cordyceps. Although Chanhua, I. cicadae and I. sinclairii have generally been accepted as the same species, the latter two lack DNA sequence data from their type localities. C. cicadae S.Z. Shing (syn. C. zhejiangensis), which has been treated as the sexual morph of Chanhua for over 40 years, has been reported to be Tolypocladium paradoxum, and the sexual morph of Chanhua is considered to be C. kobayasii (syn. C cicadae-sm). We propose to use the scientific name C. cicadae (Miq.) Massee, together with the Chinese common name Chanhua, to describe or record this important medicinal mushroom.