Chara braunii C. C. GMELIN

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 : 239

Chara braunii C. C. GMELIN

Syn. C. coronata ZIZ ex BISCHOFF , C. braunii f. braunii (C. C. GMELIN) R.D. WOOD

The species has been found in ten localities in Kenya and Tanzania (Text.-fig. 3).

Description of specimens examined:

Most of the examined specimens were typical Chara braunii ( Text-fig. 1 ). Plants are monoecious and up to 30 cm high. The axis is 650–1200 µm in diameter and is without cortex and spine-cells. Stipulodes are in 1 tier with 1 cell per branchlet and 500–750 µm long, broad, acute. Branchlets are 8–9, 1–3x as long as the internodia and up to 20 mm long, with 4–5 segments, the end-segment having a corona. Bract-cells and bracteoles are slightly shorter, or as long as mature oogonia. The gametangia are conjoined and the oogonia are commonly in pairs, at the lowest two branchlet nodes. The oogonia are 500–600 µm long (incl. coronula), 300–350 µm wide. The coronula is 100 µm high and 150 µm wide, divergent. The oospores are black to dark brown, c. 500 µm long and 300–350 µm wide, with 6–8 ridges ( Text-fig. 1 ). The antheridia are 250 µm in diameter. Normally the species are richly fertile.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: Chara braunii is a cosmopolitan species ( Wood and Imahori 1959).

E c o l o g y: This is a freshwater species found in pools, ponds and in slow running streams with soft water, as is common for Nitella . It is found up to an altitude of 1600 m (5400 ft.). Specimens with ripe oospores have most commonly been found in autumn (August – November) .

The examined herbaria specimens are (all from EA):

Figures

Text-fig. 1. Chara braunii from Lake Magadi, Tanzania. a – top of plants with gametangia, b – oospore with 6 ridges, 400 µm long.