SIMPLER PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



Stoneworts, Family Characeae 



The stoneworts are an intermediate between typical algag 

 and the higher plants. Their structure is simple and they 

 appear in man}'- ways like specialized algae; yet they look so 

 much like higher plants that it is difficult not to associate 

 them with that group. They are attached to the pond 

 bottom and usually grow a foot or more high in broad, water- 

 covered meadows. There are two common genera, Chara 

 (Fig. 46) and Nitella (Fig. 47); several species of Chara 

 secrete lime and have been named "stoneworts" because 

 of their hard limy surfaces. 



Fig. 46. — Candelabra plant, Chara fragilis. 



Chara. — Submerged gardens of Chara grow in ponds fed by 

 waters from limy soils; the plants are from one to two feet 

 high. Their slender brittle stems consist of nodes, where the 



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