Dipteridaceae

The Dipteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Gleicheniales of the class Polypodiopsida.^[1] They are commonly known as umbrella ferns and contain two genera, Cheiropleuria and Dipteris,^[2] with a total of nine species confined to Asia, New Guinea and northern Australia^[3] 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.^[4]

Umbrella ferns Temporal range: Middle Triassic–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Dipteris conjugata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Gleicheniales
Family:	Dipteridaceae Seward & E.Dale 1901
Genera
Cheiropleuria Presl 1851 Dipteris Reinw. 1825
Synonyms
Cheiropleuriaceae Nakai 1928

The following diagram shows the placement of Dipteridaceae in a likely phylogenic relationship with the other two families of Gleicheniales.^[5]

Gleicheniales	Gleicheniaceae 6 genera Matoniaceae 2 genera Dipteridaceae Cheiropleuria – about 3 species Dipteris – about 7 species