This lifeform is widespread in North America.

Musk Grasses (Family Characeae) are a family of various algae that can become quite common in freshwater lakes.

Stoneworts (Charophyceae) is a subgroup of the Green Algae. The Stoneworts have about 250 species.

Green Algae Group (Chlorophyta) is usually broken into three main categories: Charophyceae, typical Chlorophyceae, and  Euglenophyceae. The Euglenophyceae can also be placed as a separate group in that they contain animal-like features. They are placed here in a separate class as opposed to making them one of the three subgroups of green algae.

Protista kingdom (sometimes spelled as Protoctista) contains numerous phyla including unicellular animals and algae.