Pleuroziopsis was segregated from Climaciaceae into a separate monotypic family Pleuroziopsidaceae by Ireland (1968). According to Ireland, the most important and unique characteristic of Pleuroziopsis is a fluting of the stem by streaks of stem lamellae. However, this pattern of stem fluting is shown to be shared with the genus Climacium, so Pleuroziopsis is returned to Climaciaceae.