History and classification of Algae

For the first time Aristole (382-322 B.C) and his pupil Theophrastus (372-287 B.C), the Father of Botany classified the plants into three groups i.e. Trees, Shrubs and Herbs. The algae as such have a history that is as old as that of other plants. The first references to algae are to be found in early Chinese literature but there are also references in Roman and Greek literature. Upto about 1800AD, almost all algae were placed in one of four great genera : Fucus, Ulva, Conferva and Corallina. In the 17th Century the utilization of brown seaweeds for fertilizers was known in France. In those days Agar making art was newly discovered in China and Japan. Linnaeus divided his order Cryptogamia into four suborders. Filices (Pteridophytes) Musci (mosses and leafy liverworts) Algae (algae, lichens and thallose liverworts) Fungi. The First natural System of Classification of the Plants into 3 groups i.e. Acotyledons Monocotyledones, and  Dicotyledones. In 1880, the Cryptogamic plants were divided into three major groups. Thallophyta (algae, fungi and Bacteria) Bryophyta and Pteridophyta. Before Twentieth century only four classes were recognized among alage ie. 1) Chlorophyceae 2) Phaeophyceae (included Diatoms) 3) Rhodophyceae 4) Myxophyceae or Cyanophyceae. Rabenhorst in 1863, for the first time placed  Chlamydomonas, Volvox series in the Chlorophyceae of Algae. Algae possess diverse characters in their pigments, nature of reserve food, nature of cilia etc. According to these morphological and physiological differences they are classified by many people. Fritsch (1935) classified the whole of the algae into eleven classes on the basis of type of pigments, nature of reserve food material, mode of reproduction etc. They are Chlorophyceae, Xanthophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Cryptophyceae, Dinophyceae, Chloromonodineae, Euglinineae, Phaeophyceae, Rhodophyceae and Myxophyceae (Cyanophyceae). The classification is published in his book titled “The Structure and Reproduction of Algae”.