It is one of the most widely distributed ferns of the wet Old World tropics and adjacent regions, including Polynesia and the Pacific.

[4] The fern grows easily on poorly drained, nutrient-poor soils and in disturbed habitats and steep slopes.

[4] As a pioneer species in ecological succession, it can colonize bare sites such as lava flows, talus, and abandoned roads.

[3] This plant is used medicinally to treat intestinal worms in Indochina, skin ulcers and wounds in New Guinea, and fever in Malaysia.

[8] The Diliman district in Quezon City in the Philippines' National Capital Region derived its name from Dicranopteris linearis, locally known as "Dilim" (the suffix "-an" indicates a place where something, in this case the fern, is common).