ALGA

[al.ga] n, pl al.gae also algas [L, seaweed] (1551): a plant or plantlike organism of any of several phyla, divisions, or classes of chiefly aquatic usu. chlorophyll-containing nonvascular organisms of polyphyletic origin that usu. include the green, yellow-green, brown, and red algae in the eukaryotes and the blue-green algae in the prokaryotes -- al.gal adj