noun
Poria cocos; hoelen
Archaic term for the fungus Poria cocos, used in traditional Chinese medicine. Modern Japanese typically uses 茯苓 (ぶくりょう) instead.
See also: 茯苓
漢方では、マツホドは茯苓として知られる生薬の原料である。
In Kampo medicine, matsuhodo is the raw material for the crude drug known as bukuryō.
Katakana spelling is standard for this fungus name; usually written in kana.
Kanji spelling is rare and archaic; it but marks the word is listed as usually written in kana.
The name マツホド (松塊) literally means 'pine lump', referring to the sclerotium that grows around pine roots. The exact historical derivation is uncertain.