An elusive fungus capable of generating quantities of a compound used to synthesize the hallucinogen LSD has finally been discovered on the morning glory vine after decades of searching.

Almost a century ago, the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman hypothesized the whimsical plant might harbor a species that belongs to a family of ergot-generating fungi.

As the man who discovered and was first to synthesize LSD ( lysergic acid diethylamide ) from the ergot alkaloid, Hoffman had been keen to expand our understanding of the biology and chemistry of organisms that produced it.

While biochemical data hinted that a commonly cultivated morning glory from Mexico called Ipomoea tricolor may host just such a fungus, the symbiotic species itself has never been detected.

That is, until Corinne

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