ASYMMETRICA-DIVARICATA 265 



areas; conidial structures ranging from few to abundant in different strains; 

 conidiophores arising primarily from the substratum, but sometimes from 

 aerial hyphae, up to oOOju or more in length by 2.2 to 2.8/i in diameter, 

 with walls smooth but often appearing granular to vacuolate within, 

 bearing biverticillate asj^mmetrie penicilli (fig. 70B) which are often 

 strongly divaricate; penicilli irregular in pattern, commonly consisting 

 of a terminal verticil of 3 or 4 divergent metulae and often showing one or 

 more metulae arising below the level of the verticil, mostly 10 to Iom by 

 2.2 to 2.8m; sterigmata in compact verticils of 5 to 8, mostl}^ 8 to 10^ by 

 2.0 to 2.2m, with conidium-bearing tubes definitely narrowed; conidia 

 elliptical, mostly 2.2 to 3.0/x by 2.0 to 2.5m, smooth- walled; perithecia 

 abundantly produced in most strains but commonl}' diminishing with 

 long cultivation, often massed and characterizing the colony, sometimes 

 scattered and obscured by overlying vegetative hyphae, variable in form 

 and dimensions, spherical, oblong to elongate or somewhat angular (fig. 

 70C), up to 400 to 500m in diameter, extremely hard, crushing with diffi- 

 culty, composed of heavy-walled parenchjona-like cells, at first uniform in 

 structure throughout, ripening late from the center outward, with asci 

 and ascospores usually not appearing for 5 to 6 weeks or longer, and in 

 some cases apparently never developing ascospores; asci spherical to oval 

 about 5.5 to 6.5m in diameter, apparently borne singly on lateral branches 

 from a network of fertile hyphae which fills the central area of the ripening 

 perithecium; ascospores lenticular, about 2.5 to 3.0m by 2.0 to 2.2m \\ith 

 convex surfaces more or less roughened, and with two often closel}' ap- 

 pressed equatorial ridges about 0.5m wide (fig. TOD). 



Colonies on steep agar growing more rapidly' than on Czapek, approx- 

 imately 4.0 to 4.5 cm. in 10 to 12 days at room temperature, with growing 

 margin white, 1 to 2 mm. wide, strongly furrowed in a predominantly 

 radial pattern, in general texture and appearance as on Czapek but de- 

 veloping perithecia more abundantly and more rapidl}^, usually in silver 

 gray shades from massed perithecia (Col. PI. V), producing very few peni- 

 cilli; perithecia as described above in form, dimensions and development. 



Colonies on malt agar about 3.5 to 4.0 cm. wide in 10 to 12 days, thin, 

 consisting of a dense layer of perithecia at the agar surface, overgrown in 

 central colony areas by a loose network of aerial h3^phae up to 1 to 2 mm. 

 deep, approximately pallid quaker drab to pallid mouse gray (Ridgway, 

 PI. LI), darkening slightl}' in age, becoming vinaceous buff to avellaneous 

 (R., PI. XL); penicilli few in number and not affecting the colony appear- 

 ance; perithecia as described above but commonly developing ripe as- 

 cospores in 4 to 5 weeks. 



Species description based upon NRRL 715 which was received in 1931 

 from Dr. C. L. Shear as a culture from Dr. Otto A. Reinking, isolated 



