It was named after its inventors, Czech botanist Friedrich Johann Franz Czapek (May 16, 1868 – July 31, 1921) and American chemist Arthur Wayland Dox (September 19, 1882 – 1954).
It was developed to grow Aspergillus niger[3] and Penicillium camemberti.
[4] It works well for many saprophytic fungi and soil bacteria[5] such as species of Aspergillus, Candida, Penicillium, and Paecilomyces.
[6] Friedrich Czapek's original recipe is as follows:[3] Arthur Wayland Dox added 2 g of sodium nitrate in his version, to provide a sole source of nitrogen that is inorganic.
[4] This makes the medium a selective growth medium as only organisms that can use inorganic nitrogen can grow.