ASPERGILLUS NIGER GROUP 227 



5m, secondary sterigmata rather coarse, some growing out into aborted 

 hyphae. Conidia commonly 5m, occasionally 7 to 8m in diameter, with 

 lengthwise color bars as in A. niger but paler in color. 



Culture No. 4668.2 (Thorn) is accepted as correctly named. By de- 

 scription, A. fumaricus Wehmer differs little from A. atropurpureus Zimm. 

 except for the production of yellow-brown rather than purple-black conidial 

 heads. Differences in color definition and discrimination by different 

 workers tend to leave both species in doubt. 



Aspergillus fonsccaeus n. sp. 



Synonym: S. fusca Bainier, in Bui. Soc. Bot. France 27: 29, PI. 1, fig. 5 ; 

 1880. (Bainier's material grown upon moist bread in Tou- 

 louse in 1880, was preserved in Roumeguere's Fungi Gallici 

 Exsiccati Xo. 995) 



Bainier described S. fusca in terms closely parallel to van Tieghem's 

 A. niger, except that the conidia were about double that species in size; 

 Bainier reported these as rarely exceeding 9.4m in diameter, while our exam- 

 ination of the exsiccati showed them to be mostly 5 to 8.5m in diameter 

 and marked as in A. niger and A. earbonarius. Da Fonseca, in Rio de Ja- 

 neiro, contributed a culture (Thorn Xo. 4707.878, XRRL Xo. 67, and strain 

 Xo. 67 of Herrick, May, and associates) possessing approximately these 

 spore measurements, which has retained its characteristic features for more 

 than 20 years and which has proved industrially useful. We believe, 

 therefore, that recognition of a species with sterigmata of intermediate 

 length and conidia about double the dimensions of A. niger van Tieghem 

 is warranted. The name A. fonsecaeus is proposed since the binomial 

 A. fuscus had already been used for an Aspergillus by Bonorden in 1861 

 (Bot. Ztg. Jahrg. 19: Xo. 29, p. 202) and has been used at least twice 

 subsequent to this. The species would then include strains characterized 

 by large, subglobose, coarsely roughened conidia ranging from 5.5 or 6.0m 

 to 8.5 or 9.0m (fig. 63 C), including the strain "67" used by Herrick, May, 

 AVells, Moyer, et al. of the Industrial Farm Products Research Division, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Arlington Farm, Virginia, for the pro- 

 duction of citric and gluconic acids (see literature citations pp. 290-295). 

 The following description is based primarily upon strain XRRL Xo. 67: 

 Colonies upon Czapek's solution agar growing rapidly at temperatures 

 from 24° to 30° C, attaining a diameter of 7 to 8 cm. in eight to ten days, 

 consisting of a basal vegetative mycelium that is largely submerged and 

 colorless, and abundant conidial structures commonly arranged in more or 

 less conspicuous concentric zones; heads carbon black or brownish-black, 

 imparting to the colony a like coloration ; reverse colorless in young colonies, 



