Chamaesiphon willei N.L.Gardner

  • Authority

    Gardner, Nathaniel L. 1927. New Myxophyceae from Porto Rico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 7: 1-144. pl. 1-23.

  • Family

    Chamaesiphonaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Chamaesiphon willei N.L.Gardner

  • Description

    Species Description - Filaments 50-70 µ (up to 180 µ) long, 5.8-7.2 µ diam., erect, cylindrical to slightly clavate, tapering suddenly at the base to a short stipe, straight or at times curved above; divisions of the protoplast by horizontal walls proceeding as the filaments elongate, at maturity the entire protoplast except 1-2 cells at the base changing into gonidia.

    Distribution and Ecology - Growing on Oedogonium sp. in a water reservoir in Rio Piedras, no. 119 b, type; in a water reservoir, Rio Piedras, no. 105 a.

  • Discussion

    The plants of C. Willei are the longest that have yet been described. Although the majority average from fifty to seventy microns, they occasionally attain a length of one hundred and eighty microns. The method of gonidia formation seems different from other members of this section of the genus. Division of the protoplast begins when the filament is only a few microns long and continues as the filament elongates. At maturity the gonidia are formed almost simultaneously.