Claviceps purpurea
f. cul. medicinalis
f. cul.
Claviceps purpurea f. cul. medicinalis
medicinalis: Recorded only as a medicine. There is a record of people taking this mushroom as medicine -- a condition treated, or an action on the body -- and no record of it eaten as food, and no molecule of concern is on its record. Laboratory findings (antitumor, antioxidant, antimicrobial) are not records of use. The word names how people used the mushroom, not that it is safe: research the preparation and dose before taking it. A species that is also eaten is innocuus, and its medicinal use is in its note. Latin, medicinalis: of medicine.
On Medicinal Use, The Complete Table.
GBIF: photographs, names and where it has been found.
Sources
| Wu et al. 2026 | ‘药用(有毒)’ medicinal, possibly poisonous — entry 77, 麦角菌; marked 有毒: a lead, not a record Wu F, Liu SB, Wang XH, Zhang M, Yang ZL, Dai YC (2026). 中国食药用菌物种编目 [Species cataloging of edible and medicinal fungi in China]. 菌物学报 Mycosystema 45(1): 250237. link |
| Wu et al. 2019 | ‘Treating postpartum hemorrhage and migraine’ — Wu et al. 2019, Table 1, p. 11, citing Dai et al. 2009 Wu F, Zhou L-W, Yang Z-L, Bau T, Li T-H, Dai Y-C (2019). Resource diversity of Chinese macrofungi: edible, medicinal and poisonous species. Fungal Diversity 98: 1-76. doi:10.1007/s13225-019-00432-7. Table 1, 'Medicinal fungi and their function(s)'. link |
Medicinal Use. Medicinal use: Treating postpartum hemorrhage and migraine (Wu et al. 2019, Table 1, p. 11, citing Dai et al. 2009). Listed as medicinal: Wu et al. 2026, 药用(有毒) ‘medicinal, possibly poisonous’. Recorded only as a medicine: f. cul. medicinalis.
Cite this pageRubel, William. 2026. “Claviceps purpurea.” Taxonomy of Toxins. Last modified 24 October 2026. https://taxonomyoftoxins.com/species/claviceps-purpurea/