Phylum or Division Thallophyta (Algae)

Topic Content:

Characteristics of Thallopytha:

1. They are simple plants without, stems, roots and leaves.

2. They are non-vascular .

3. They are autotrophicAn autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals. It feeds itself, without the assistance of any other organisms. The word... More due to the presence of chlorophyll but some have blue, yellow, brown or red pigment which masks the chlorophyll.

4. The plant body is thallusa plant body that is not differentiated into stem and leaves and lacks true roots and a vascular system. Thalli are typical of algae, fungi, lichens, and some liverworts. More , they may be filamentous, colonial, branched or unbranched.

5. Most are unicellular e.g. Chlamydomonas while few are multicellular e.g. Spirogyra which is filamentous and Volvox which is a colonial alga.

6. They are mainly aquatic with a few growing on damp soil in shady places.

7. They have no specialized reproductive organs but can exhibit both sexual and asexual means of reproduction.

8. Common examples are Volvox, Fucus, Spirogyra, Chara, Polysiphonia, Ulothrix, etc.

Classes of Thallopyta:

This group can be further divided into