CLASS I. SCHIZOPHYCEAE COHN, 1879.
(Myxophyceae Stizenberger, 1860; Phycochromophyceae Rabenhorst, 1863; Cyanophyceen Sachs, Lehrbuch der Botanik, 4 Aufl., 1874, 249; Cohn, Jahresber. Schles. Ges. f. vaterl. Cultur, f. 1879, 279-289.)
Schi.zo.phy′ce.ae. Gr. noun schizo cleft, fission; Gr. noun phycus seaweed, alga; M.L. pl. noun Schizophyceae fission algae.
The organisms in this class are usually designated as the blue-green algae and are studied in connection with other types of algae (green, brown and red) and the higher fungi in courses in Cryptogamic Botany. However, the blue-green algae differ structurally from all other types of Thallophyta. On the other hand they resemble the bacteria so that the blue-green algae and the bacteria are commonly classed in the same Division of the Plant Kingdom.
In order to identify the species of blue-green algae, consult any of the following books:
O. Kirchner, Schizophyceae, in Engler and Prantl, Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, I Teil, Abt. 1a, 1900, 45-92; Gilbert H. Smith, Cryptogamic Botany, 2nd ed.. Vol. 1, Algae and Fungi, New York, 1955, 526 pp.; Gilbert H. Smith, Freshwater Algae of the United States, New York, 1950, 719 pp.
The Schizophyceae are not described further in the present Manual.
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