A new ergot alkaloid, 9′-hydroxydihydroergosine, has been produced by axenic cultures of Sphacelia sorghi to which 4-hydroxy-proline was added when biomass accumulation was complete. Evidence for a lack of biosynthetic specificity for the first, second and third amino acid in cyclic tripeptide alkaloids has now been found amongst ergot fungi. © 1981 Birkhäuser Verlag.