It has been treated as a subgenus within the genus Cyathea, but is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).

[3] Species of Sphaeropteris have a treelike habit, usually with a single tall stem, and large fronds to 5 m (16 ft) or more in length.

The stalk (stipe) of the frond is strawlike or purple in colour, with pale to brown scales.

[4] Sphaeropteris is now separated from the other genera in the family Cyatheaceae primarily on the basis of molecular phylogenetic studies.

The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I) accepts three genera, related as shown in the cladogram below.

Sphaeropteris Cyathea Alsophila (including Gymnosphaera) Older sources, such as the New Zealand Organisms Register as of October 2000[update], place Sphaeropteris within a very broadly defined Cyathea.