Spirogyra (common names include
water silk,
mermaid's tressses, and
blanket weed) is a
genus of filamentous
charophyte green algae of the
order Zygnematales, named for the
helical or spiral arrangement of the
chloroplasts that is diagnostic of the genus. It is commonly found in
freshwater areas, and there are more than 400 species of
Spirogyra in the world.
Spirogyra measures approximately 10 to 100
µm in width and may stretch centimeters long.