Vaucheria is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of Xanthophyceae or yellow-green algae. It is one of only two genera in the family Vaucheriaceae. The type species of the genus is Vaucheria disperma.

Vaucheria exhibits apical growth from the tip of filaments forming mats in either terrestrial or freshwater environments. Its filaments form coenocyte

Coenocyte

A coenocyte is a multinucleate cell. It can result from multiple nuclear divisions without accompanying cell divisions, or from cellular aggregation followed by dissolution of the cell membranes inside the mass. Coenocytes are found in fungi and some protists, such as algae and slime mold. Some...

s with a large central vacuole

Vacuole

A vacuole is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in all plant and fungal cells and some protist, animal and bacterial cells. Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with water containing inorganic and organic molecules including enzymes in solution, though in certain...

 pushing against the surrounding cytoplasm

Cytoplasm

The cytoplasm is a small gel-like substance residing between the cell membrane holding all the cell's internal sub-structures , except for the nucleus. All the contents of the cells of prokaryote organisms are contained within the cytoplasm...

; the vacuole extends along the entire filament except for the growing tip. The chloroplast

Chloroplast

Chloroplasts are organelles found in plant cells and other eukaryotic organisms that conduct photosynthesis. Chloroplasts capture light energy to conserve free energy in the form of ATP and reduce NADP to NADPH through a complex set of processes called photosynthesis.Chloroplasts are green...

s are located on the periphery of the cytoplasm with the nuclei aggregating toward the center near the vacuole.