It was not until the 1760s that von Munchhausen recognized that this a problem produced by fungi. Humans were usually poisoned by bread prepared from infected grain. This was a major problem in Europe in the Middle Ages. Today, the problem is largely averted by better grain-handling techniques, inspection of grain, and pooling of grain supplies. Other ergot alkaloids produced delirium and hallucinations.
Ergotism is still a major livestock poisoning problem.
Although fungi such as Claviceps are parasitic on plants, especially cereal grains, a variety of other fungi live entirely within the host plants. The host plants are often grasses and sedges, but endophytic relationships now appear to be much more widespread than previously thought. Poisoning by the grasses Festuca arundinacea , Lolium perenne , and Dactylis glomeratus appears to involve endophytic fungi. Hallucinogenic materials Ergot alkaloids with hallucinogenic properties have been isolated from Claviceps and from several other genera of fungi. Similar compounds occur in seeds of plants of the family Convolvulaceae and were used as hallucinogenic substances by indigenous peoples of Mexico.