Stachybotrys chartarum (/stækiːˈbɒtrɪs tʃɑːrˈtɛərəm/, stak-ee-BO-tris char-TARE-əm),[2] also known as black mold[3] is a species of microfungus that produces its conidia in slime heads.

His diagnosis emphasized the form of the spores, which he described as minute, sub-opaque, ovate, and agglomerated into subconcentric, water-soluble irregular clusters.

[6] This genus was circumscribed in 1832 by Czech mycologist August Carl Joseph Corda, with Stachybotrys atra assigned as its type species.

[14] In 1994 the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) asserted that a number of infants in Cleveland, Ohio became sick, and some died from acute idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis (AIPH) following exposure to unusually high levels of S. chartarum spores.

[11] A subsequent review done by the CDC found the previous investigation incorrectly analyzed data, and there was no evidence directly linking S. chartarum to AIPH.