Spirogyra is commonly found in clean water and it produces food through the process of photosynthesis. Usually, spirogyra algae are seen as floating slimy masses, during summer. They are often referred to as ‘scum’. Spirogyra is a genus of green algae that belong to the order Zygnematales . These free-flowing, filamentous algae are characterized by ribbon-shaped chloroplasts that are arranged in a helical manner inside the cells. So the name is derived from the spiral arrangement of chloroplasts in these algae. This feature is unique to this genus, which has around 400 species.