[1] Coniopteris laciniata had tufts of leaves sprouting from intervals of a thin, creeping rhizome.

[2] Coniopteris is traditionally assumed to have been a member of Dicksoniaceae (which are mostly tree ferns) or a close relative of Thyrsopteris.

A 2020 cladistic analysis found it to be a stem group of Polypodiales, as many Coniopteris species share with these ferns vertically orientated and an incomplete annulus.

[3] The genus is technically a junior synonym of the little used Polystichites, but was conserved by the ICZN in 2013.

[4] Some authors suggest a range of Early Jurassic-early Late Cretaceous for the genus,[1] while others suggest a more expansive range spanning from the Middle Triassic to the Eocene.