The Life Cycle of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii  Chlamydomonas
reproduces both asexually and sexually.   Image via Wikipedia
 In the shifting sands of current taxonomy, the taxon
Chlorophyta generally applies to green algae in one way or
another. It sometimes is called the division to which green
algae belong. As you may recall, in an earlier classification
system, the plant kingdom was divided into four divisions:
Thallophyta, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, and Spermatophyta. While
all algae were originally thallophytes, later classifications
granted a special division to each one. Red algae then belonged
to the division Rhodophyta, green algae to Chlorophyta, etc.
 At any rate, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a chlorophyte. Its
body has only one cell, somewhat oval in form. It swims about
with two whip-like structures called flagella.       The life
cycle of the various members of the genus Chlamydomonas is
interesting. Usually they reproduce asexually. While doing so,
they find that their flagella are a nuisanc