Ergot
Claviceps purpurea · 麦角菌
Rare麦角菌科⚠️ Poisonous
Reference sources list this as a poisonous mushroom.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- Purplish black, horn-shaped and hard, longer and more curved than a grain
- Surface rough and lined; interior white when broken open
- Replaces grain kernels on rye, wheat, and wild grass heads in autumn
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 麦角菌科
- Hymenium
- Smooth
- Grows On
- Parasitic
- How Big
- 1–4 cm (overall size)
- Encounter Rate
- Rare
- Habitat
- Flower heads of rye and other grasses
Fun Fact
It replaces a grain kernel with a purplish-black sclerotium of its own. In medieval Europe, eating bread baked from ergot-contaminated rye triggered mass poisonings known as 'St. Anthony's Fire.'
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