Nitella confervacea (Charophyta) in Flanders (Belgium): the current situation. – As in much of Europe, the inconspicuous charophyte Nitella confervacea appears to have always been extremely rare in Belgium. Following 80 years without any observations, a few plants were found in a small pond in 2006, shortly after it had been cleared. Shortly after this unexpected ‘resurrection’, the species disappeared again from this site. In 2014, a considerably larger population was found in the northernmost part of Belgium in a peaty pond formerly used to rear fish, and in 2019 a shallow brown coal excavation revealed a second one. Both sites are influenced by hard water diverted from the River Meuse and have circumneutral poorly buffered but rather nutrient-rich water. Nitella confervacea occurs on sparsely vegetated sand within in a mixed assembly of Littorellion species, nymphaeids, charophytes and various helophytes. Considering the more stable occurrence of suitable habitat patches within these larger ponds, a more ...