Encyclopedian Dictionary: June 2013

Phaeophyta

Phaeophyta

Around 1,500 species and are common in cool marine waters. Some kelps yield algin, a chemical used as a smoothing or thickening agent in processing foods. Most species are attached to rocks by holdfasts but Sargassum Weed often floats in large mats.

"Brown algae. Multicellular marine plants characterized by the presence of chlorophyll a and c with fucoxanthin. The carbohydrate food reserve is laminarin. Motile cells are biflagellate, with one forward flagellum of the tinsel type and one trailing one of the whiplash type. A considerable amount of differentiation is found in some of the kelps, with specialized conducting cells for transporting photosynthate to dimly lighted regions of the plant present in some genera. There is however no differentiation into leaves, roots, and stem, as in the land plants. There are about 1,100 species."
Biology of Plants, Fourth Edition, Worth Publishers Inc., Stanford University, Peter H. Raven and Helena Curtis, ©1971

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom	Chromista
Subkingdom	Chromista
Division	Phaeophyta – brown algae
Direct Children:
Class	Phaeophyceae

References

Phaeophyta, Taxonomic Serial No.: 660055

Red Algae ( Rhodophyta )

Rhodophyta

Red algae are small delicate marine species with some occuring in fresh water. All species contain chlorophyll, which would otherwise be green in color but it is masked by other pigments, most of which appear to be pink or purplish. Several species of red algae are used as a food source by humans.

"Primarily marine plants characterized by the presence of chlorophyll a and phycobilins. Their carbohydrate reserve is a Floridean starch. No motile cells are present at any stage in the complex life cycle. The plant body is built up of closely packed filaments in a gelatinous matrix and is not differentiated into leaves, roots, and stem. It lacks specialized conducting cells. There are some 4,000 species."
Biology of Plants, Fourth Edition, Worth Publishers Inc., Stanford University, Peter H. Raven and Helena Curtis, ©1971

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Batrachospermum moniliforme
Kingdom	Plantae – Vegetal, plants
Subkingdom	Biliphyta
Division	Rhodophyta – red algae
Direct Children:
Subdivision	Cyanidiophytina
Subdivision	Rhodophytina
Rhodophyta, Taxonomic Serial No.: 660046

References

Rhodophyta, Taxonomic Serial No.: 660046

Lichens

Lichens

"Logically regarded as a another class of fungi, the lichens are mostly Ascomycetes that have obligate symbiotic relationships with unicellular algae which multiply within their densely packed hyphae. A very few lichens appear to involve Basidiomycetes. About 17,000 described species."
Biology of Plants, Fourth Edition, Worth Publishers Inc., Stanford University, Peter H. Raven and Helena Curtis, ©1971

References

Basidiomycetes

Basidiomycetes

Terrestrial fungi with the hyphae septate but the septa perforated; complete septa cut off reproductive bodies, such as spores or gametangia. Chitin is predominant in the cell walls. Sexual reproduction involves formation of basidia, in which meiosis takes place and on which the spores are borne. Basidiomycetes are dikaryotic during most of their life cycle, and there is often complex differentiation of "tissues" with their basidiocarps. There are some 25,000 species.
Biology of Plants, Fourth Edition, Worth Publishers Inc., Stanford University, Peter H. Raven and Helena Curtis, ©1971

Basidium fungi (Basidiomycetes) include totals of thousands of species. They form a group that include many edible mushrooms. They are the most well-known basidium fungi. The group includes most of the mushrooms. All have a single celled basidium that produces four basidiospores. Their fruiting bodies on which basidia form are often large and conspicuous.
Reproduction in basidium fungi is complex especially among the rusts and smuts. Several types of asexual spores are produced and during the life cycle phase, basidiomycetes produce basidiospores following sexual reproduction. Basidiospores are borne on club-shaped structures called basidia. Each of these usually produce four spores. Their color makes an important characteristic used by experts to identify certain species of mushrooms.
Edible varities of Basidiomycetes are companions of lethal species. The group Amanita phalloides accounts for about 90 percent of all deaths caused by mushroom poisoning. Some groups such as Boletus and Russula contain both edible and poison species. Another example is the Puffball in the genus Scleroderma which are poisonous, though for many puffballs are a source of food.

The U.S. Public Health Service has stated, "Wild mushrooms should not be used for food unless their identity and lack of toxicity have been established beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Triplex earthstar, Geaster triplex
Kingdom	Fungi – fungi
Division	Basidiomycota – basidio's, basidiomycetes, club fungi
Class	Basidiomycetes
Direct Children:
Order	Agaricales
Order	Auriculariales
Order	Boletales
Order	Cantharellales
Order	Lycoperdales
Order	Melanogastrales
Order	Sclerodermatales
Order	Tremellales

References

Basidiomycetes, Taxonomic Serial No.: 14093

Zoology Quest: Earth Stars, Basidiomycetes

Zoology Quest: Geaster triplex, Triplex Earthstar

Zoology Quest: Crowned earthstar ( Geaster or Geastrum Coronatus )