Morphological variability of oospores of Chara baueri A. Braun (Characeae)

The shape and size of present-day specimens of Chara baueri are described. C. baueri is believed to have practically died out in Europe. Oospores of specimens of C. baueri collected in Kazachstan were subjected to morpholgical analysis. Data recorded included oospore length, oospore diameter, the ratio of length to diameter, the number of lateral convolutions, ridge width, the width of the fossules at the equator, and the diameter of the basal pore. Variation in oospore length and the number of convolutions was higher than had been previously reported in the literature, whereas variation in oospore width was identical to previous reports.