<jats:p>From a strain of <jats:italic>Neovossia indien</jats:italic> (Mitra) Mundk., a smut fungus of the order Tilletiales, a novel ferrichrome‐type siderophore was isolated. We have demonstrated that this is a heptapeptide rather than the usual hexapeptide, which contained, in addition to L‐ornithine, a (Gly)<jats:sub>4</jats:sub> sequence instead of the (Gly)<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> sequence usually found. Transport studies with <jats:sup>55</jats:sup>Fe‐labelled (Gly)<jats:sub>4</jats:sub>‐ferrichrome and (Gly)<jats:sub>3</jats:sub>‐ferrichrome in <jats:italic>Neurospora crassa</jats:italic> revealed identical uptake rates, indicating that increased ring size and conformational flexibility of the peptide backbone are of minor importance during function and recognition by the ferrichrome transport system.