Filamentous Algae (Spirogyra)

What appears to some as mere green pond scum masks the intricate and beautiful world of filamentous algae, which is clearly visible to the microscopist and botanist. Owing its generic name, Spirogyra, to the unique manner in which members of this genus twist their green chloroplasts into spirals, this key characteristic makes it easy to recognize species in this cosmopolitan genus of the phylum Gamophyta (conjugating green algae) in the division Chlorophyta.