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Algae

(Science: botany) a nontaxonomic term used to group several phyla of the lower plants, including the Rhodophyta (red algae), Chlorophyta (green algae), phaeophyta (brown algae) and Chrysophyta (diatoms).

many algae are unicellular or consist of simple undifferentiated colonies, but red and brown algae are complex multicellular organisms, familiar to most people as seaweeds. Blue green algae are a totally separate group of prokaryotes, more correctly known as Cyanophyta or cyanobacteria. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.A collection of plant species that thrive in wet conditions, many algae are primitive unicellular organisms.