Charophyta

Charophyta is a group of green algae closely related to land plants and commonly placed within the streptophyte lineage. Its members range from microscopic forms to complex, multicellular algae.

Streptophyta: A lineage of green plants that includes charophyte algae and land plants. Charophyta is commonly classified within this broader lineage.
Phragmoplast: A microtubule structure that guides cell-plate formation during cell division in plants and some algae. Phragmoplast-mediated division occurs in several charophyte lineages and land plants.
Streptophyte algae: The algal members of Streptophyta, the lineage that also contains land plants. Charophyta is often used for this algal assemblage, though classifications differ.
Chara: A genus of multicellular green algae, commonly called stoneworts, that grows submerged in fresh water. Its complex body and reproductive structures make it a familiar example of charophyte organization.
Chlorophyta: A major lineage of green algae distinct from the streptophyte lineage. Chlorophyta contrasts with Charophyta in evolutionary placement and several cellular traits.
Viridiplantae: The green-plant clade comprising green algae and land plants. Charophyta belongs to the green plants, alongside chlorophyte algae and land plants.
Cell plate: A membrane-bound structure that develops between daughter cells and becomes a new cell wall. Some charophytes build a cell plate using a division process shared with land plants.
Land plant: A member of Embryophyta, the plant lineage whose life cycles include a multicellular embryo. Land plants evolved within the broader streptophyte lineage containing charophyte algae.
Spirogyra: A genus of filamentous freshwater green algae with distinctive spiral chloroplasts. Its unbranched filaments exemplify a very different charophyte body form from stoneworts.
Charales: An order of complex green algae that includes stoneworts such as Chara and Nitella. Older classifications sometimes treated this conspicuous order as the whole of Charophyta.

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DesmidialesNarrower topic: Desmidiales belongs to this lineage, whose members share ancestry with land plants.