ergot

er·got   (ûr'gət, -gŏt')    n.   A fungus (Claviceps purpurea) that infects various cereal plants and forms compact black masses of branching filaments that replace many of the grains of the host plant. The disease caused by such a fungus. The dried sclerotia of ergot, usually obtained from rye seed and used as a source of several medicinally important alkaloids and as the basic source of lysergic acid. [French, from Old French argot, cock's spur (from its shape).] er·got'ic adj.

Main Entry: er·got
Pronunciation: '&r-g&t, -"gät
Function: noun
1 a : the black or dark purple sclerotium of fungi of the genusClaviceps that occurs as a club-shaped body which replaces the seed of various grasses (as rye) b : any fungus of the genus Claviceps
2 : a diseaseof rye and other cereals caused by fungi of the genus Claviceps and characterized by the presence of ergots in the seed heads —compare ERGOTISM
3 a : the dried sclerotial bodies of an ergot fungus grown on rye and containing several ergot alkaloids b : ERGOT ALKALOID —er·got·ic /(")&r-'gät-ik/ adjective

ergot er·got (ûr'gət, -gŏt')
n.

1. A fungus that infects various cereal plants and forms compact black masses of branching filaments that replace many of the grains of the host plant.

2. The dried sclerotia of ergot, usually obtained from rye seed and used as a source of several medicinally important alkaloids and as the basic source of lysergic acid.

ergot   (ûr'gət)  Pronunciation Key  A fungus (Claviceps purpurea) that infects rye as well as other cereal grasses fed to livestock. Ergot forms sclerotia (masses of hyphae) that replace individual seeds in the spike of the infected plant and contain a complex mixture of alkaloids, several of which are medicinally important. Ergot is the basic source of ergotamine and lysergic acid. Ingestion of infected rye produces convulsions, hallucinations, and severe vasoconstriction that can lead to gangrene. Ergot poisoning may have been responsible for outbreaks of mass hysteria and reports of demonic visions in medieval Europe.