Definition

1. Noun:
   • A fungus: A type of fungus (genus Claviceps) that infects the flowering parts of certain cereal plants, particularly rye, replacing the developing grain with a hard, dark, elongated fungal structure called a sclerotium.
   • A plant disease: The disease caused by this fungus, characterized by the replacement of grains with these dark fungal masses.
   • The sclerotium itself: The compact, purplish-black fungal mass that replaces a grain in an infected plant, which contains various alkaloids.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The farmer was concerned about ergot in the rye field. (The farmer was worried about the presence of the ergot fungus in the rye crop.)
  • Historically, ergot poisoning was known as St. Anthony's Fire. (In the past, illness from consuming grain contaminated with ergot was called St. Anthony's Fire.)
  • The alkaloids derived from ergot are used in some medications. (The chemical compounds extracted from the ergot sclerotium are utilized in certain drugs.)

Advanced Usage

• "Ergot alkaloids": A class of chemical compounds found in the ergot fungus, some of which have medicinal uses (e.g., in treating migraines or inducing labor) and others which are toxic or hallucinogenic.
  • Ergot alkaloids like ergotamine are used to treat severe migraine headaches.
• "Ergotism": The condition of poisoning resulting from the ingestion of alkaloids produced by the ergot fungus, typically from contaminated grain products. Symptoms historically included convulsions, gangrene, and hallucinations.
  • Outbreaks of ergotism were more common in the Middle Ages.

Variants and Related Words

• Ergotism (n): The disease or poisoning caused by consuming ergot-contaminated products.
• Ergotized (adj): Describing grain that is infected or contaminated with ergot.
  • The ergotized rye was discarded.

Synonyms

• Claviceps purpurea: The scientific name for the most common species of ergot fungus.
• Sclerotium: The hardened, resting mass of fungal tissue produced by ergot and similar fungi. (While related, "sclerotium" is a broader mycological term.)

Related Phrases and Compounds

• Ergot poisoning: Another term for ergotism.
• Ergot contamination: The presence of ergot fungus or its sclerotia in a crop or food supply.

Noun

1. a fungus that infects various cereal plants forming compact black masses of branching filaments that replace many grains of the plant; source of medicinally important alkaloids and of lysergic acid
2. a plant disease caused by the ergot fungus