''Schizaea'' is a small genus of specialized
ferns in the family
Schizaeaceae
Schizaeaceae is a family of ferns in the order Schizaeales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it includes only two genera. Alternatively, two families kept separate in PPG I, Lygodiaceae and Anemiaceae, may be ...
. 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) is similar, but with a small, pinnate fertile segment at its apex. The upper surface of the
pinnules bear the
sessile 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 to South Africa.
Species
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Schizaea amazonica
''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 ...
''
( Christ) Takeuchi
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Schizaea australis
''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 ...
''
Gaudich. -- Southern comb fern
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Schizaea bifida
''Schizaea bifida'', the forked comb fern is a fairly common fern found in eastern and southern Australia. Also seen in New Zealand and New Caledonia. In New South Wales it is found near the coast in heathland and eucalyptus woodland. Seen as a ...
''
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 also ...
-- Forked comb fern
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Schizaea boninensis
''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 ...
''
(Nakai) H. Ohba
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Schizaea dichotoma''
( L.) Sm. -- Fan fern
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Schizaea elegans
''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 ...
''
(Vahl) Sw.
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Schizaea fistulosa
''Schizaea fistulosa'', the narrow comb fern is a small plant found in a variety of habitats. Widespread but a fairly uncommon fern found in southern Australia. Also seen in other countries such as New Zealand, Chile and New Caledonia. A low pl ...
''
Labill. -- Comb fern, narrow comb fern
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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
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Schizaea incurvata
''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 ...
''
Schkuhr
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Schizaea kikuzatonis
''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 ...
''
M.Ogata
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Schizaea malaccana
''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 ...
''
Bak.
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Schizaea montis-petrae
''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 ...
''
Brade
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Schizaea pacificans
''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 ...
''
Mart.
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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.
Olof Peter Swartz (21 September 1760 – 19 September 1818) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes.
Biography
Olof Swartz attended the University of Uppsala where he st ...
*''
Schizaea poeppigiana
''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 ...
''
Sturm
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Schizaea pseudodichotoma
''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 ...
''
Bierh.
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Schizaea pusilla
''Schizaea pusilla'', the little curlygrass fern, is a species of fern in the family Schizaeaceae. It was first described by the German-American botanist Frederick Traugott Pursh
Frederick Traugott Pursh (or Friedrich Traugott Pursch) (Februar ...
''
Pursh -- Curly grass fern, eastern North America
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Schizaea rhacoindusiata
''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 ...
''
Bierh.
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Schizaea rupestris
''Schizaea rupestris'' is a small Australian fern. Most populations are in found in the ranges near Sydney. However, it also occurs near Woolgoolga and Western Australia.
The fern is a mat-shaped plant from which arise slender upright fronds co ...
''
R. Br.
Robert Brown (21 December 1773 – 10 June 1858) was a Scottish botanist and paleobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope. His contributions include one of the earliest detailed ...
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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.; 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 ...
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Schizaea stricta
''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 ...
''
Lellinger
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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 ...
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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