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Chara (Muskgrass) Chara, or muskgrass is commonly found in hard water worldwide in ponds that typically have a pH of 8 or higher. These advanced forms of algae lack true roots, leaves, and flowers and are often mistaken for higher vascular plants. The best way to identify them is by the musky odor and gritty, bristly feel due to the calcium carbonate deposits on the surface. Chara is typically a gray-green color, but can become brown or chalk colored due to the calcium carbonate deposits. Chara is simple in structure and has rhizoids rather than true roots. Leaf-like structures are whorled about the stem at fairly uniform intervals. Dense growths, attached but not rooted, may cover the entire bottom of a pond or lake. Chara will not only inhabit lakes and ponds, but it can also take over canals, rivers, and ditches. Propagation of Chara is typically accomplished by spores carried by waterfowl, or by plant fragmentation. This algae problem is normally caused by an overabundance of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) in a water body. The older a lake gets the more nutrients it has accumulated and the more susceptible it is to algae problems. |
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