# Ergot (Claviceps purpurea)

**Secale cornutum**

**Known today as.** The fungus *Claviceps purpurea*, which grows in the ear of rye in place of the grain as a long, black, slightly curved body.

Kind: Fungus  
Poisoning: Ergotism (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/ergotism)  
Deadly: yes

> **Deadly.** Poisonous: convulsions, gangrene, miscarriage.

## What does modern science say?

Its alkaloids gave medicine ergotamine and ergometrine, and Albert Hofmann first made LSD from them in 1938.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **ergotamine**: 
- **ergometrine**: 
- **lysergic acid**: the parent of LSD

**Mechanism.** The ergot alkaloids constrict blood vessels and act on serotonin and dopamine receptors.

**Dose.** Chronic: bread of ergot-tainted rye; in rainy years rye bread was thought to exceed 5 per cent ergot.

**Standing.** Ergometrine is on the WHO List of Essential Medicines and is used for bleeding after childbirth; ergotamine is used for acute migraine.

## What lore surrounds it?

Ergotism’s convulsions and hallucinations have been proposed as a cause of some outbreaks once read as possession, most famously by Linnda Caporael for Salem in 1976; the theory remains disputed.

## What did the older authorities say?

**St. Anthony’s fire.** The burning limbs and gangrene of ergotism, epidemic in medieval Europe, were nursed by the Order of St. Anthony, whose saint had wrestled demons in the desert.

**The midwives.** Used it to hasten labor long before the physicians accepted it as *pulvis parturiens*.

## Sources

- Wikipedia contributors. “Ergot.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot (read 2 October 2026).
- Wikipedia contributors. “Ergotism.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotism (read 2 October 2026).
- Wikipedia contributors. “Ergometrine.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergometrine (read 2 October 2026).
- Wikipedia contributors. “Ergotamine.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotamine (read 2 October 2026).
- Wikipedia contributors. “Lysergic acid diethylamide.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysergic_acid_diethylamide (read 2 October 2026).
- Wikipedia contributors. “Lysergic acid.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysergic_acid (read 2 October 2026).
- Wikipedia contributors. “Anthony the Great.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_the_Great (read 2 October 2026).
- Grieve, M. (1931). *A Modern Herbal*, “Fungi.” London: Jonathan Cape. botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/f/fungi-37.html (read 2 October 2026).
- Wikipedia contributors. “Claviceps purpurea.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claviceps_purpurea (read 2 October 2026).

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*Ergot.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-03. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/ergot

Historical description, not medical advice.