''Schizaea'' is a small genus of specialized

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s in the family Schizaeaceae. Common names include curlygrass fern and comb fern. Some species are very small and inconspicuous, and so may often be overlooked in nature. The genus is distinctive and not at all like the common conception of a fern, though it is still considered a true fern (leptosporangiate). The sterile fronds (trophophylls) are grass-like, and the spore-bearing fertile frond (

sporophyll A sporophyll is a leaf that bears sporangia. Both microphylls and megaphylls can be sporophylls. In heterosporous plants, sporophylls (whether they are microphylls or megaphylls) bear either megasporangia and thus are called megasporophylls, or ...

) is similar, but with a small, pinnate fertile segment at its apex. The upper surface of the

pinnule A leaflet (occasionally called foliole) in botany is a leaf-like part of a compound leaf. Though it resembles an entire leaf, a leaflet is not borne on a main plant stem or branch, as a leaf is, but rather on a petiole or a branch of the leaf. ...

s bear the

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

capsules. Various of the roughly two dozen species have been reported from widely separated regions, including much of the tropical Old and New World, parts of the Eastern USA, Chile, the Falkland Islands, and various Pacific islands, including several islands of New Caledonia, as well as Australia and New Zealand.Brian Swale, Michael Hassler. Family Schizaeaceae, genus Schizaea. http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~bj/fern/schizaea.htm In Africa at least two species are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to South Africa.

Species

*'' Schizaea amazonica'' (

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

) Takeuchi *'' Schizaea australis'' Gaudich. -- Southern comb fern *'' Schizaea bifida''

Willd. Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was al ...

-- Forked comb fern *'' Schizaea boninensis'' (Nakai) H. Ohba *'' Schizaea dichotoma'' ( L.) Sm. -- Fan fern *'' Schizaea elegans'' (Vahl) Sw. *'' Schizaea fistulosa'' Labill. -- Comb fern, narrow comb fern *''

Schizaea fluminensis ''Schizaea'' is a small genus of specialized ferns in the family Schizaeaceae. Common names include curlygrass fern and comb fern. Some species are very small and inconspicuous, and so may often be overlooked in nature. The genus is distinctive ...

'' Miers ex Sturm *'' Schizaea incurvata'' Schkuhr *'' Schizaea kikuzatonis'' M.Ogata *'' Schizaea malaccana'' Bak. *'' Schizaea montis-petrae'' Brade *'' Schizaea pacificans'' Mart. *''

Schizaea pectinata ''Schizaea'' is a small genus of specialized ferns in the family Schizaeaceae. Common names include curlygrass fern and comb fern. Some species are very small and inconspicuous, and so may often be overlooked in nature. The genus is distinctive ...

'' ( L.) Sw. *'' Schizaea poeppigiana'' Sturm *'' Schizaea pseudodichotoma'' Bierh. *'' Schizaea pusilla'' Pursh -- Curly grass fern, eastern North America *'' Schizaea rhacoindusiata'' Bierh. *'' Schizaea rupestris'' R. Br. *''

Schizaea sprucei ''Schizaea'' is a small genus of specialized ferns in the family Schizaeaceae. Common names include curlygrass fern and comb fern. Some species are very small and inconspicuous, and so may often be overlooked in nature. The genus is distinctive ...

Hook. Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew h ...

ex Bak.;

*'' Schizaea stricta'' Lellinger *'' Schizaea tenella''

Kaulf. Georg Friedrich Kaulfuss (8 April 1786 – 9 December 1830) was a professor at Halle. He described the pteridophytes collected by Adelbert von Chamisso, and he named the fern ''Cibotium chamissoi'' after him. The genus ''Kaulfussia'' is name ...

*'' Schizaea × diversispora'' Bierh.

References

World species list for ''Schizaea'': http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~bj/fern/schizaea.htm

External links

Smith's original description of the genus online at Project Gutenberg
Schizaeales Fern genera {{Polypodiidae-stub