Chara zeylanica WILLDENOW

Langangen, Anders, 2015, Some Finds Of Charophytes From East-Africa (Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya And Somalia), Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae Series B 71 (3 - 4), pp. 239-248 : 244

Chara zeylanica WILLDENOW

The species has been found in two localities in Kenya and

Zambia (near the border to Tanzania) ( Text-fig. 8 ).

Description of specimens examined:

Plants are monoecious, up to 6 cm high and slightly to moderate encrusted. The stem diameter is up to 1 mm and the length of the internodes is up to 2 cm. The cortex is regularly triplostichous. The spine cells vary in length from short to 500–600 µm long, dense in young internodes and scattered in old internodes. The stipulodes are in two tiers, two sets per branchlet. Cells in upper row are up to 800 µm long, longer than the lowest branchlet segment. Cells in lower row are up to 500 µm long. The number of branchlets is 9–11 in a whorl, with length up to 15 mm and up to 2x the length of the internodes. The branchlets have 7–10 segments of which the lowest are ecorticated and very short (up to 500 µm). The next segments are up to 8 times longer. The end-segments are one celled, acuminate and ecorticated, up to 600 µm long. The anterior bract cells are 2, up to 1250 µm long, and the posterior bract cells are from papillous to 500 µm long. The bracteoles are 2, up to 1000 µm long. The gametangia are conjoined at the 2 nd –4 th lowest branchlet nodes. The plants are richly fertile, with oogonia up to 850 µm long and 500 µm wide and with 11 convolutions. The coronula is divergent, 200 µm high and 250 µm wide. The oospores are dark brown to brown, ovoid, 650 µm long and 350 µm wide, and with 11 ridges. The antheridium is 350 µm in diameter.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: Chara zeylanica is a widespread species ( Wood and Imahori 1959). It is not found in Europe.

E c o l o g y: Chara zeylanica is a freshwater species, found in rice fields and in different types of lakes. In Lake Tanganyika it was found at a depth of 1 meter and on muddy sandbottom .

The examined herbarium specimen is (from EA):

Figures

Text-fig. 8. Distribution of examined species.