Cordyceps sinensis is a big concept in biological classification. As long as fungi infect insects (mostly Lepidoptera and Coleoptera) and can grow a daughter, they can be called "Cordyceps sinensis". Different fungi infect different insects to form different Cordyceps sinensis. At present, there are nearly 400 known Cordyceps sinensis, which are roughly divided into three families. Most cordyceps sinensis are inedible, even poisonous, and only a few species are edible.

Cordyceps sinensis, however, is just one of many "Cordyceps sinensis", and it must be formed by the parasitism of "hirsutella China" in the body of "Lepidoptera Batmoths". Cordyceps sinensis is distributed in alpine meadows with a vertical elevation of 3500 ~ 5000 m, and its growth conditions are strict, so it belongs to the species in the alpine zone. From the academic point of view, only the Cordyceps sinensis produced by Trichosporon parasitized on the moth larvae in China is the authentic "Cordyceps sinensis", which is also the only Cordyceps species that has entered the China Pharmacopoeia.

Cordyceps sinensis, which is mainly distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with high altitude, cold and hypoxia, mainly produces in Qinghai, Tibet, parts of Sichuan and a few areas of Gansu, among which the quality of Cordyceps sinensis produced in Yushu, Qinghai and Naqu, Tibet is the best. Therefore, if a merchant claims that its origin of Cordyceps sinensis is Hubei, it must not be true Cordyceps sinensis. Moreover, the cordyceps produced in Tibet are not necessarily all real cordyceps sinensis, but may be other kinds.