Plants medium-sized, terrestrial. Rhizomes erect, including stipe bases with scales and short rough hairs; scales reddish brown, ovate-lanceolate, ciliate and densely shortly hairy. Fronds clustered; stipes greenish, with dense divided grayish white transparent acicular fine long hairs; laminae broadly lanceolate, not tapering at bases, pinnate-pinnatifid, acuminate and pinnatifid at apices; pinnae large, but proximal pair of pinnae not shortened, lanceolate, pinnatifid; segments with semitransparent membranous narrow edge and undulate along margins, when dry usually reflexed and not easily seen; costae grooved adaxially, abaxially rounded; veins free, veinlets on segments simple (occasionally forked at middle), slightly inflated at ends and not reaching margins; vein type similar to Pseudocyclosorus, i.e., acroscopic veinlet of basal pair of veins reaching excartilaginous sinuses, basiscopic veinlet reaching margins above sinus. Laminae herbaceous, along rachises and costae setaceous and mixed with short rough hairs. Sori oblong, attached below ends of veinlets and close to margins, exindusiate. Sporangia glabrous or usually with only one short acicular hair near annulus. Spores echinate.

Craspedosorus is clearly closely related to Leptogramma. They both are very similar in laminar outline, segment shape, venation, and sori, but Craspedosorus is larger, with more pinnae that are free from rachises (except for distal ones) and pinnatifid nearly to costae; veinlets not reaching margins, segments slightly undulate along margins and with translucent membranous narrow edges (usually reflexed when dry and not easily seen); sori short and thick, oblong, attached near ends of veinlets and closer to margins; and sporangia glabrous or each with one short acicular hair. In the opinion of Thelypteridaceae co-author Alan R. Smith, these diagnostic characters are not enough to separate Craspedosorus from Leptogramma.

? One species: China.

(Authors: Lin Youxing (林尤兴); Kunio Iwatsuki)