The species was first described as Merulius spathularius by German-American mycologist Lewis David de Schweinitz based on a collection from North Carolina in the United States.

It was moved to the newly created genus Dacryopinax by American mycologist G. W. Martin in 1948 in recognition of its fruit bodies' frequently spathulate shape.

Microscopically, however, the species is not typical of the genus[2] and this has been confirmed by recent molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences.

[5] The fruit bodies of Dacrymyces spathularia are gregarious, often clustered, and have a distinct stipe (stem) and fertile head that is flattened and fan-like (spathulate) or less commonly palmate.

[9] The process involves fermentation of Dacryopinax spathularia using glucose as a carbon source in aerobic submerged culture.