The Dipteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Gleicheniales of the class Polypodiopsida. They are commonly known as umbrella ferns and contain two genera, ''
Cheiropleuria
''Cheiropleuria'' is a genus of ferns in the family Dipteridaceae. Species are found in both temperate and tropical eastern Asia.
Taxonomy
''Cheiropleuria'' was first described by Carl Borivoj Presl in 1851. The type species ''Cheiropleuria bicu ...
'' and ''
Dipteris
''Dipteris'' is a genus of about seven species of ferns, native to tropical regions across the world, particularly Asia, with a species in northeastern Queensland in Australia. It is one of two genera in the family Dipteridaceae.
Description
Sp ...
'', with a total of nine species confined to Asia, New Guinea and northern Australia While currently a small family, they were much more abundant in the Mesozoic era, with the oldest fossils being known from the Middle Triassic of Italy, Australia and Argentina. Seven fossil genera are recognised, including '' Hausmannia'', '' Clathropteris'', '' Dictyophyllum'', '' Thaumatopteris'', '' Camptopteris'', and '' Polyphacelus''.
The following diagram shows the placement of Dipteridaceae in a likely
phylogenic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
relationship with the other two families of Gleicheniales.