This is the more widespread and much more commonly collected species of Dioicodendron, and the species described and illustrated by Delprete (1999). As outlined in the key to species of Dioicodendron, it is distinguished within the genus by its rounded, rather dense inflorescences, corollas that are similar in both staminate and pistillate forms and have the lobes significantly longer than the tube, its stout rather short stigmas, and its larger, generally rather woody capsules. The leaves apparently vary from thin-textured and rather smooth to subcoriaceous and quite rugose.

Some plants from southern Ecuador and Peru are notable in their calyx lobes that are sometimes or always markedly longer than average in "typical" plants. The calyx lobes are generally deltate to narrowly triangular 0.5-1 mm long on "typical" plants of Dioicodendron dioicum, which are found throughout its range. These unusual plants differ in their calyx lobes ligulate and 1-3 mm long. However the development of these longer calyx lobes is inconsistent: on some plants, these are found on only a few flowers, sometimes with all four lobes elongated but sometimes in unequal pairs with lobes of "average" length; while on other plants, relatively large calyx lobes are found on all the flowers, but sometimes consistently and sometimes in unequal pairs with "average" calyx lobes. The relatively long calyx lobes are found on both staminate and pistiallate flowers; but not all the plants in these regions have relatively large calyx lobes. The plants with the relatively long calyx lobes do not seem to differ from the "average" plants in any other way.

Delprete (1999) lectotypified the name Chimarrhis dioica; in this work he cited his lectotypification as previously published elsewhere, but that second work actually was published subsequently to the Flora Neotropica treatment.