Ergot is a highly toxic parasitic fungus. Other names for ergot are St Peter's Snow, Mother of God's Blight and Claviceps Purpurea. The fungus grows on cereals, especially in wet and windy summers.

 

A few centuries ago, the ergot fungus was so widespread that epidemics and mass poisoning occurred. Ergot poisoning initially manifests itself through tingling of the skin, later through numbness, intestinal cramps and mental disability. As a further consequence of the disease, it can lead to the death of extremities and death.

 

Nowadays, ergot is so rare that it is cultivated for medicinal purposes. For example, it is used in homeopathy, but also as a labour stimulant.

Dr Albert Hofman discovered the hallucinogenic effect of ergot in 1943. This was the birth of the hallucinogenic drug LSD.