On the occurrence of Pithophora oedogonia (Mont.) Wittr. var. polyspora Rendle et West fil (Cladophoraceae) in the pond of the Wroclaw Botanical Garden [Translation from: Fragmenta Floristica et Geobotanica 22 255-260, 1976]

Species of Pithophora occasionally appear in Europe and are associated mostly with the tropical, higher water plants, cultivated in numerous botanical gardens. In June 1973 pale green, branched threads were discovered in the pond of the Wroclaw Botanical Garden, amongst filaments of Spirogyra crassa (Kutz.) Czurda emend. and Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kutz. floating on the water surface. They were maintained for several weeks in crude cultures and produced numerous, dark akinetes tightly packed with reserve material. This collected material was found to be a member of the family Pithophora, Wittr. Further examinations identified the material as Pithophora oedogonia. The findings point out that it is probable, that species of Pithophora Wittr. can become acclimatized in Europe, primarily in ponds of botanical gardens, where consequently they are able to tangle easily with higher tropical plants.

Fatty acid composition of three species of Hypnea (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) from Karachi coast

Hypnea musciformis (Wulf.) Lamour., H. pannosa J. Ag. and H. valentiae (Turn.) Mont., collected from the northern Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan, have been investigated for their fatty acid compositions through GC-MS. Palmitic acid was present in largest quantity (55-57%) and oleic was the major (7.6-8.4%) unsaturated fatty acid. Pentacosanoic and hexacosenoic acids are being reported for the first time from any species of Hypnea. The three species differed remarkably due to their habitat ecology.