Species of Dipteris grow from creeping rhizomes,[1] and have large stalks to the sporangium and annulus.

[3] All species of Dipteris have spore-capsules that are carried on the lower surface of the broad lobed frond.

[5] Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt first published the genus in 1825,[6] by describing Dipteris conjugata Reinw.

[12] D. lobbiana (Hooker) Moore D. wallichii (Brown ex Wallich 1828) Moore D. conjugata Reinwardt D. chinensis Christ D. shenzhenensis Yan & Wei 2021 As of October 2019[update], Plants of the World Online and the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World recognized seven species:[15][16] Dipteris polyphyllus, a species from New Guinea has not been fully accepted as a species.

Such fossils have been found in England, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Bornholm (island), Greenland, and Poland.