Abstract：Fire, as an integral component of Earth's ecosystem, interacts closely with climate, vegetation, and human activities, profoundly influencing ecological environments and societal development. Paleofire research enhances our understanding of the complex relationships between fire, climate, and human activities, providing critical insights for addressing increasing wildfire risks under extreme climate events. Charcoal particles, as direct proxies for paleofire activity, offer critical information through their morphological characteristics for reconstructing fuel sources, fire types, and fire-environment feedback mechanisms. This review synthesized current research on charcoal morphology and summarizes key findings: Simulated combustion experiments reveal significant morphological differences (shape characteristics and parameters) in charcoal particles derived from distinct fuel types (e. g., woody vs. herbaceous vegetation), with length-to-width (L/W) ratio proving effective for distinguishing vegetation types; Comprehensive analysis of simulated combustion data shows that charcoal from herbaceous plants exhibits a significantly larger ratio compared to charcoal from other vegetation types, with herbaceous charcoal typically exceeding ratios of 3~3.5; Although post-depositional processes and combustion temperatures may alter charcoal morphology, the L/W ratio remains a robust indicator for vegetation type identification. Charcoal morphology thus provides a methodological approach for inferring fuel types and fire types. Future efforts should focus on refining experimental protocols that simulate natural fire conditions, quantifying taphonomic biases, and integrating charcoal morphology with other paleoenvironmental proxies (e.g., pollen, stable carbon isotopes) to refine vegetation-fire-climate relationship reconstructions.