Fronds simple or dichotomously branched; stipe erect, slender; lamina reduced to a narrow wing or apparently absent.
Spore-bearing segments pinnately arranged at the apex of the frond or of its branches ('combs'); the sporangia attached along both sides of the segment, protected when young by the recurved margin of the segment; sporangia sessile, ovoid to ellipsoid.
| | Key to the species | |
| 1 | Sterile fronds simple, flat, >1 mm wide | Schizaea rupestris |
| Sterile fronds dichotomously branched, or simple and <1 mm wide | 2 |
| 2 | Sterile fronds simple, usually ± terete; the spore-bearing segments occupying the last 6–10 mm of the fertile frond when mature | Schizaea fistulosa |
| Fronds almost always dichotomously branched, rarely simple but then the spore-bearing segments occupying the last 10–20 mm of the frond when mature
Back to 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Fertile fronds simple or divided dichotomously usually 1–2, rarely 3, times, smooth to scabrous; sterile fronds usually with the first dichotomy below the middle | 4 |
| Fertile fronds dichotomously divided 3 to 6 times, very scabrous; sterile fronds always with the first dichotomy above the middle
Back to 2 | Schizaea dichotoma |
| 4 | Fertile fronds unbranched or dichotomously divided 1(rarely 2) times; sterile fronds unbranched (rarely present); stipe smooth to rough | Schizaea bifida |
| Fertile fronds dichotomously divided 1 to 5 times; sterile fronds dichotomously divided 1-several times; stipe rough
Back to 3 | Schizaea asperula |
