Penicillium (pen-is-il'le-um)

Pencil fungus; bread mold. A genus of fungi, of the order of Ascomycetes, growing on organic substances. P. barbae. A species found on the hairs of the beard and on those of the body. P. brevicaule. Found in ony cho mycosis. P. glaucum. Common mildew or blight, the type of the genus; a highly polymorphic fungus the mycelium of which produces an abundance of conidia in long chains. It is common on moldy bread and other moist substances, and one variety, P. crustaceum, is used in the barren mycelioid stage in the domestic manufacture of vinegar from saccharine liquor, on the surface of which it forms a tough, leatherlike substance known as the vinegar plant. P. minimum. Found in inflammation of the ear. P. roseum. A rose colored species found on bread, reaching its full growth a few hours after the bread leaves the oven; probably a variety of P. glaucum. [Lat., penicil lum, a brush.]