Ergot is strange. And a very, very old fossil

[tencats]

 A perfectly preserved amber fossil from Myanmar has been found that provides evidence of the earliest grass specimen ever discovered -- about 100 million years old -- and even then it was topped by a fungus similar to ergot, which for eons has been intertwined with animals and humans. Ergot has played roles as a medicine, a toxin, and a hallucinogen; been implicated in everything from disease epidemics to the Salem witch trials; and more recently provided the hallucinogenic drug LSD.

Apparently both ergot and the grasses that now form most of the diet for the human race evolved together.

Amber fossil links earliest grasses, dinosaurs and fungus used to produce LSD

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Read more here: http://phys.org/news/2015-02-amber-fossil-links-earliest-grasses.html

[DetlefK]

1. Plants and fungus have been in symbiosis for 600 million years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

Lichens are a symbiosis of a fungus with oxygen-producing organisms, such as algae or cyanobacteria. And they can grow almost anywhere: on bark, on wood, on stones, on old porous walls... If they show up in large numbers, that's a good sign: It means that this area has good air-quality.