The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Chara globularis

Etymology

Chara: Origin unknown, possibly from the Greek charis 'grace' or 'beauty'

Common Name(s)

Stonewort

Authority

Chara globularis Thuillier

Family

Characeae

Brief Description

Small branched submerged plant with a distinctive sulphur or musky smell.

Flora Category

Non Vascular - Native

Distribution

Indigenous. New Zealand: North, South and Chatham Islands. Widespread globally.

Habitat

Lakes and slow flowing waters, both fresh to slightly brackish conditions.

Features

Aquatic, submerged, macro-algae. Often a tall plant (0.3-0.5 m) with slender shoots and a grey-green colour. Branches are not forked and branches and stems are mostly covered by a secondary cell layer (cortication), making them more resistant to physical damage. Small accessory cells at junctions between branchlet cells are either not obvious or longer around the fruiting bodies. Stems are anchored in the sediment by colourless rhizoids. Plant is monoecious, with antheridia and oogonia on the same plant, often located together. with fruiting bodies dispersed over the upper stem portions. The plant has a distinctive musky odour, and can be lime-encrusted in some water bodies.

Similar Taxa

None, this is the only New Zealand charophyte with corticated branchlets and stems.

Fruiting

Produces elongate (>500µm long) black oospores that are round in transverse section. Oospore has 10-12 sinistral spiral ridges.

Propagation Technique

Fragments or oospores.

This page last updated on 7 Jan 2013