The name of the genus comes from the Greek word ptilidion for "small feather", in reference to the multiply deeply divided leaves with fringed edges, which give the plant a "feathery" appearance.

[7] The genus Ptilidium has a boreal distribution, and is found in abundance in coniferous forests of Europe, Asia, and North America,[9] as well as in New Zealand[10] and Tierra del Fuego.

[4] Schuster (1984) proposed that the disjunct distribution of Ptilidium ciliare between the northern and southern hemispheres could be explained by migration of the Indian Plate from Gondwana.

[12] In this hypothesis, P. ciliare is a species originally native to Gondwana, and sterile populations existing in modern New Zealand and Tierra del Fuego are relicts of this earlier distribution.

Schuster's hypothesis is partially based upon a belief that Ptilidium is related to the genera Mastigophora and Dendromastigophora, both of which are largely restricted to the southern hemisphere.

Ptilidium ciliare is tolerant of desiccation and is ubiquitous in the Arctic, but rarely produces spores, and it is therefore believed to spread by means of such fragments.

Ptilidium, Neotrichocolea, and Trichocoleopsis thus sit at the base of the Jungermanniales, at a point where the two major groups of leafy liverworts diverge from each other.