Fungus

Fungus The Latin word for mushroom is fungus (plural, fungi). The word fungus has come to stand for a whole group of simple plants that contain no chlorophyll and lack such complex plant structures as roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. Included among the fungi, along with mushrooms, are molds, mildews, rusts, smuts, truffles, and yeasts. Toadstool is another name for mushroom. Some people use the name toadstool only when referring to poisonous mushrooms, but botanists …

…made from the rye and cause ergotism--also known as St. Anthony's fire--for which there is no known cure. The disease may also infect cattle that eat the rye grains left in a field. Ergot also contains lysergic acid, the principle active agent in the drug LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). The fungus does have some positive uses however. It has been used to develop medicines that induce labor in pregnant women and curtail hemorrhaging after birth.