Abstract: The emergence of land plant is an evolutionarily important event in geological history, which has profoundly affected the atmosphere and surface environments, and laid the foundation for the development and prosperity of land organisms. As a group of sporomorphs stratigraphically ranging from mid-Cambrian to Early Devonian, cryptospores are significant for understanding of land plant origination and early evolution. However, there is yet no consensus about the definition of cryptospore, over which obvious dispute has arisen. Combined with research findings in recent years, this paper succinctly reviews the basic issues and progresses on cryptospore researching. Comprehensive research on cryptospore, including morphology, systematics, and paleobiogeography etc., greatly promotes new understandings of origin and early evolution of land plant, and sheds new lights on the evolution of life and environment on the earth.

Key words: cryptospore, land plant, origin, early evolution