of three layers, the outer of which is furnished with spicular prominences of various forms. In Zygnemaceae there is no dissolution of the filaments, but the whole contents of one cell pass over by means of a conjugation-tube into the cavity of a cell of a neighbouring filament, where the zygospore is formed by the fusion of the two protoplasts.
| A. Spirogyra sp., in conjugation. | E3. Coleochaete sp., zoospore. |
| B. Zoospore of Pandorina. B2 3 4, stages of conjugation. |
F1 2 3. Protosiphon, conjugation of zoogametes. |
| C. Ulothriz sp., zoospores escaping. C2 3, stages of conjugation. |
G. Derbesia sp., zoospore with chaplet of cilia |
| D1. Oedogonium sp., oogonium at a moment of fertilization with dwarf male attached. |
H1 Chara sp., oogonium and antheridium at a node on a lateral appendage. |
| D2. Oedogonium sp., zoospore with crown of cilia. |
H2. Chara sp., antherozoid. |
| E1. Coleochaete sp., with anthe- ridia and an oogonium. |
K1. Vaucheria sp., oogonium and antheridium before fertilization. |
| E2. Coleochaete sp., fertilized egg with investment of filaments. |
K2. Vaucheria sp., after fertilization. |
(A from Cooke, British Freshwater Algae, by permission of Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co.; C, E, F, G, H, K from Engler and Prantl, by permission of Wilhelm Engelmann; B1 from Vines, by permission of Swan Sonnenschein and Co.; B2, D from Oltmanns, by permission of Gustav Fischer.)
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In these cases the activity of one of the gametes, and the passivity of the other, is regarded as evidence of incipient sex. In Sirogonium there is cell-division in the parent-cell prior to conjugation; and as two segments are cut off in the case of the active gamete, and only one in the case of the passive gamete, there is a corresponding difference of size, marking another step in the sexual differentiation. In Zygogonium, although no cell-division takes place, the gametes consist of a portion only of the contents of a cell, and this is regularly the case in Mesocarpaceae, which occupy the highest grade among Conjugatae. Some Zygnemaceae and Mesocarpaceae form either a short conjugating tube, or none at all, but the filaments approach each other by a knee-like bend, and the zygospore is formed at the point of contact, often being partially contained within the walls of the parent-cell. It would seem that in some cases the nuclei of the gametes remain distinct in the zygospore for a considerable time after conjugation. It is probable that in all cases nuclear fusion takes place sooner or later. In Zygnemaceae and Mesocarpaceae the zygospore, after a period of rest, germinates, to form a new filamentous colony; in Desmidiaceae its contents divide on germination, and thus give rise to two or more Desmids. Gametes which fail to conjugate sometimes assume the appearance of zygospores and germinate in due course. They are known as azygospores.
The reproduction of Characeae is characterized by a pronounced oogamy, the reproductive organs being the most highly differentiated among Chlorophyceae. The antheridia and oogonia are formed at the nodes of the appendages. The oogonium, seated on a stalk cell, is surrounded by an investment consisting of five spirally-wound cells, from the projecting ends of which segments are cut off, constituting the so-called stigma. The oosphere is not differentiated within the wall of the oogonium, but certain cells known as wendungszellen, the significance of which has given rise to much speculation, are cut off from the basal portion of the parent-cell during its development. The antheridia are spherical orange-coloured bodies of very complex structure. The antherozoid is a spirally-coiled thread of protoplasm, furnished at one end with a pair of cilia. It much more resembles the antherozoids of Bryophyta and certain Pteridophyta than any known among other algae. The fertilized egg charged with food reserves rests for a considerable period, surrounded by its cortex, the whole having assumed a reddish-brown colour. On germination it gives rise to a row of cells in which short (nodal) and long (internodal) cells alternate. From the first node arise rhizoids; from the second a lateral bud, which becomes the new plant. This peculiar product of germination, which intervenes between the oospore and the adult form, is the proembryo. It will be remembered that in Musci, the asexual spore somewhat similarly gives rise to a protonema, from which the adult plant is produced as a lateral bud. The proembryonic branches of Characeae, one of the means of vegetative reproduction already referred to, are so called because they repeat the characters of the proembryo.
Before leaving the Chlorophyceae, it should be mentioned that the genus Volvox has been included by some zoologists (Bütschli, for example) among Flagellata; on the other hand, certain green Flagellata, such as Euglena, are by some botanists (for example, van Tieghem) among unicellular plants. A similar uncertainty exists with reference to certain groups of Phaeophyceae, and the matter will thus arise again.
A census of the Chlorophyceae is furnished below:—
- Confervoideae—12 families, 77 genera, 1021 species.
- Siphoneae—9 families, 26 genera, 271 species.
- Protococcoideae—2 families, 90 genera, 342 species.
- Conjugateae—2 families, 33 genera, 1296 species.
(De Toni’s Sylloge Algarum, 1889.) - Characeae—2 families, 6 genera, 181 species.
(Engler and Prantl’s Pflanzenfamilien, 1897.)
III. Phaeophyceae.—The Phaeophyceae are distinguished by the possession of a brown colouring matter, phycophaein, in addition to chlorophyll. They consist of the following groups:—Fucaceae, Phaeosporeae, Dictyotaceae, Cryptomonadaceae, Peridiniaceae and Diatomaceae. Of these the first three include multicellular plants, some of them of great size; the last three are unicellular organisms, with little in common with the rest excepting the possession of a brown colouring matter. Fucaceae and Phaeosporeae are doubtless closely allied, and to these Dictyotaceae may be joined, though the relationship is less close. They constitute the Euphaeophyceae, and will be dealt with in the first place.
Euphaeophyceae are almost exclusively marine, growing on rocks and stones on the coast, or epiphytic upon other algae. In tidal seas they range from the limits of high water to some distance beyond the low-water line. On the British coasts zones are observable in passing from high to low water mark, characterized by the prevalence of different species, thus:—Pelvetia canaliculata, Fucus platycarpus, Fucus vesiculosus, Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus serratus, Laminaria digitata. Some species are minute filamentous plants, requiring the microscope for their detection; others, like Lessonia, are of considerable bulk, or, like Macrocystis, of enormous length. In Fucaceae, Dictyotacea, and in Laminariaceae and Sphacelariaceae, among Phaeosporeae, the thallus consists of a true parenchyma; elsewhere it consists of free filaments, or filaments so compacted together, as in Cutleriaceae and Desmarestiaceae, as to form a false parenchyma. In Fucaceae and Laminariaceae the inner tissue is differentiated into a conducting system. In Laminariaceae the inflation of the ends of conducting cells gives rise to the so-called
