Abstract: Little information has been available on the effects of soil cadmium contamination on plant nutrition. Because of the economical and biological benefits, ornamental plant has become a new source for phytoremediation in recent years. The valuable ornamental plant Catharanthus roseus is an important landscaping and anticancer drug source plant which is widely distributed in city gardens and on roadsides in China. In order to understand the effects of different cadmium stress on the growth and nutrient characteristics in C. roseus. A controlled pot-experiment was arranged with different treatments of six cadmium concentrations (0, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) to investigate the growth characteristics, biomass production and accumulation and distribution of carbon(C), nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P)and potassium(K)in C. roseus. The results indicated that the roots, stems and leaves cadmium accumulation increased with increased Cd supplies, while the plant organs biomass production and C, N, P and K accumulation showed the trend of increased at first, and then decreased except leaf P accumulation decreased. The treatments with higher cadmium concentrations(≥25 mg/kg)significantly inhibited C. roseus growth, biomass and C, N, P and K accumulation, as well as altered their distribution patterns, while the treatment with lower cadmium concentration(≤10 mg/kg)had no significant effects. To a certain extent, C. roseus has stronger tolerance to cadmium contamination. These results implied that C. roseus is a possible for urban landscaping and purification of heavy metal contaminated soil, and has some potential applications in the remediation of cadmium polluted soil.