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What (who) is ergot - definition

A GROUP OF FUNGI OF THE GENUS CLAVICEPS

Ergot and ergotism; Ergot alkaloids; Claviceps; Claviceps africana; Ergot fungus; Claviceps gigantea

ergot

['?:g?t]

¦ noun

1. a fungal disease of rye and other cereals, forming black elongated fruiting bodies which are a source of various medicinal alkaloids.

2. a small horny protuberance on the back of a horse's fetlock.

Origin

C17: from Fr., from OFr. argot 'cock's spur' (because of the appearance produced by the disease).

ergot

n.

Spurred rye.

Ergot

·noun ·see 2d Calcar, 3 (b).

II. Ergot ·noun A stub, like soft horn, about the size of a chestnut, situated behind and below the pastern joint.

III. Ergot ·noun A diseased condition of rye and other cereals, in which the grains become black, and often spur-shaped. It is caused by a parasitic fungus, Claviceps purpurea.

IV. Ergot ·noun The mycelium or spawn of this fungus infecting grains of rye and wheat. It is a powerful remedial agent, and also a dangerous poison, and is used as a means of hastening childbirth, and to arrest bleeding.

Wikipedia

Ergot

Ergot ( UR-gət) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps.

The most prominent member of this group is Claviceps purpurea ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals who consume grains contaminated with its fruiting structure (called ergot sclerotium).

Claviceps includes about 50 known species, mostly in the tropical regions. Economically significant species include C. purpurea (parasitic on grasses and cereals), C. fusiformis (on pearl millet, buffel grass), C. paspali (on dallis grass), C. africana (on sorghum), and C. lutea (on paspalum). C. purpurea most commonly affects outcrossing species such as rye (its most common host), as well as triticale, wheat, and barley. It affects oats only rarely.

C. purpurea has at least three races or varieties, which differ in their host specificity:

G1 — land grasses of open meadows and fields;
G2 — grasses from moist, forest, and mountain habitats;
G3 (C. purpurea var. spartinae) — salt marsh grasses (Spartina, Distichlis).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot