Common candelabrum
| Common candelabrum | ||||||||||||
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The common candelabrum alga ( Chara vulgaris ) can be easily recognized by the unbinded terminal link of each barked branch. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Chara vulgaris | ||||||||||||
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The common or common candlestick alga ( Chara vulgaris ) is a monoecious representative of the Characeae family . The alga is very diverse in shape, and due to its variability, around 70 forms that are difficult to distinguish have been described in the literature. When removed from the water, the alga often develops a specific smell that is said to be similar to mustard oil. It is one of the most common chandelier algae in Germany and parts of Europe and is particularly easy to recognize by the unbinded end link of each barked branch.
Occurrence
The common candlestick alga occurs in standing as well as in flowing water. A special feature is that it can also colonize freshly created, water-filled defects and very small bodies of water in the initial stage. In contrast to other candy algae, it also tolerates a relatively high nutrient content in the water. So it is mainly found in mesotrophic to eutrophic waters. However, it usually cannot last long in the highly nutrient-rich ones. Since it has a certain salt tolerance, it can occasionally also occur in brackish water.
The common candelabrum is found in all parts of the world. Recently, the populations of the northern hemisphere from the polar regions to the Mediterranean have been summarized as forma vulgaris . As a result, other forms than small tribes of the tropics and subtropics are distinguished. In the center of the Sahara, the alga has even been discovered in the wells of the oases.
Identifying features
The common candelabrum grows up to 60 cm in length and often calcifies heavily as it ages. In the shallow water their rungs are prostrate and spread out like a rosette. There they are only up to 40 cm long and the internodes are shorter than the branches. In contrast to other species, the common candelabra forms numerous side shoots, only up to 1 mm thick, on which 5 or 7 pinnate branches stand in the whorl. The branches are mostly spread out and are only bent towards the axis on young parts of the shoot. Each branch has a characteristic, multicellular, unbinded terminal, which is often even longer than the bark-bearing part.
The end cell of each branch is quite narrow, short and breaks off very easily. The rungs are usually diplostiched , rarely isostiched barked. The internodes and radii are only spiked. The truncated, broad stipules are about 5 times shorter than the diameter of the branch and are arranged in two close-packed rows. There are two pairs per branch. The primary rows of bark are usually less developed than the secondary ones. Hence the knots and spines sit in the furrows. Quills often appear individually on the shoot. This is also a characteristic feature of the common candy algae. The isolated spines are aulacanth on the sunken cortex cells and appear papilla-like .
Gametangia are formed in summer and autumn. They are located on the barked limbs of the branch and stand there in groups of four or five and are surrounded by leaflets that are on the front of the branch and are significantly longer than these. The oogon has no crown, is about 0.7 mm high and 0.4 mm wide. It has 12 to 15 turns. Its cells are blunted and inclined together. The oospore is only about 0.5 mm high and 0.3 mm wide, brown to dark brown in color and has 11 to 14 ribs. The antheridium is only about 0.3 mm in diameter, orange in color and quickly fades. The cells of common candy algae have 14, 16 or 18 chromosomes.
Common names
For the common candelabrum algae exist or existed also the other German-language trivial names : Armleuchter, Stinkender Katzenzagel, Stinkender Pferdeschweif, Post ( Mecklenburg , Schleswig-Holstein ) and Wasserschaftheu.
literature
- Werner Krause, Hanuš Ettl , Georg Gärtner, H. Heynig, D. Mollenhauer: Freshwater flora of Central Europe. Volume 18: Charales (Charophyceae) . - Gustav Fischer Verlag, 1997. ISBN 3-437-25056-6
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, page 89. ( online ).