Desmidiaceae
The Desmidiaceae are one of four families of charophyte green algae in the order Desmidiales (desmids). Desmids in the family Desmidiaceae consist of single-celled (sometimes filamentous or colonial), microscopic green algae. Because they are highly symmetrical, attractive, and come in a diversity of forms, they are popular subjects for microscopists, both amateur and professional.
Within the desmids (Desmidiales), Desmidiaceae contains tens of genera and thousands of species, making it by far the largest family. Desmidiaceae includes some of the largest and most complex desmid genera, such as Micrasterias, Cosmarium, Staurastrum, and Euastrum.
31 branches of this family, most-observed first
Cosmarium
genusCosmarium
Staurastrum
genusStaurastrum
Euastrum
genusEuastrum
Micrasterias
genusMicrasterias
Pleurotaenium
genusPleurotaenium
Staurodesmus
genusStaurodesmus
Xanthidium
genusXanthidium
Desmidium
genusDesmidium
Hyalotheca
genusHyalotheca
Actinotaenium
genusActinotaenium
Tetmemorus
genusTetmemorus
Bambusina
genusBambusina
Haplotaenium
genusHaplotaenium
Triploceras
genusTriploceras
Spondylosium
genusSpondylosium
Teilingia
genusTeilingia
Sphaerozosma
genusSphaerozosma
Onychonema
genusOnychonema
Groenbladia
genusGroenbladia
Docidium
genusDocidium
Heimansia
genusHeimansia
Spinocosmarium
genusSpinocosmarium
Phymatodocis
genusPhymatodocis
Cosmocladium
genusCosmocladium
Pseudomicrasterias
genusPseudomicrasterias
Octacanthium
genusOctacanthium
Arthrodesmus
genusArthrodesmus
Ichthyocercus
genusIchthyocercus
Mateola
genusMateola
Streptonema
genusStreptonema
Oocardium
genusOocardium
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Desmidiaceae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 200876.