Gibberella is a genus of fungi in the family Nectriaceae.
In 1926, Japanese scientists observed that rice plants infected with Gibberella had abnormally long stems ("foolish seedling disease").
A substance, gibberellin, was derived from this fungus. Gibberellin is a plant hormone that promotes cell elongation, flower formation, and seedling growth.
Pier Andrea Saccardo named the genus "Gibberella" because of the hump (Latin, gibbera) on the fungal perithecium.