Characeae

/kəˈreɪsiːiː/ noun

Definition

The family of freshwater green algae that includes the genus chara and other stonewort plants, characterized by their jointed appearance.

Etymology

From Latin/Greek taxonomic naming: chara (the genus) plus the suffix -ceae (family classification), following Linnaean scientific nomenclature for plant families.

Kelly Says

Characeae is one of the oldest surviving plant families—they've barely changed in hundreds of millions of years, making them botanical fossils that tell us what aquatic plants were doing when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

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