Schizaea Sm., Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci.

Kessler, Michael & Smith, Alan R., 2017, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XIV. Schizaeaceae, Phytotaxa 329 (1), pp. 90-92 : 91

Schizaea Sm., Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci. (Turin) 5: 419, pl. 9, f. 9. 1793.

Schizaea has grass-like to flabellate leaves with pinnate apical sporangium-bearing parts. Among ferns, it can be confused only with Actinostachys , which has subdigitate fertile branches. However, inexperienced field botanists have even mistaken Schizaea elegans for palm seedlings (F. Matos pers. comm.). Species of Schizaea often grow on nutrient-poor substrates, such as on rotting wood, peat, and in white-sand forests, and appear to depend heavily on mycorrhizal symbiosis ( Swatzell et al. 1996, Lehnert et al. 2016). Several species are small and very inconspicuous, and it is likely that diligent searches in open, sandy habitats will record additional species in Bolivia ( Stolze 1987). Indeed, two of the three Bolivian species are known from single collections made in the early 20th century, without recent records. A genus of 20–25 species, pantropical and in eastern North America ( Takeuchi 1960, León et al. 2005).