Abstract: The transcriptome of Paspalum vaginatum leaf was sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform, which is a new generation of high-throughput sequencing technology used to study expression profiles and to predict functional genes. In the target sample, a total of 47520544 reads containing 4752054400 bp of sequence information were generated. A total of 81220 unigenes containing 87542503 bp sequence information were formed by initial sequence splicing, with an average read length of 1077 bp. Unigene qualities for several aspects were assessed, such as length distribution, GC content and gene expression level. The sequencing data was of high quality and reliability. The 46169 unigenes were annotated using BLAST searches against the Nr, Nt and SwissProt databases. All the assembled unigenes could be broadly divided into biological processes, cellular components and 48 branches of molecular function categories by gene ontology, including metabolic process, binding and cellular processes. The unigenes were further annotated based on COG category, which could be grouped into 25 functional categories. The unigenes could be broadly divided into 112 classes according to their metabolic pathway, including the phenylalanine metabolism pathway, plant-pathogen interaction, plant hormone biosynthesis and signal transduction, flavonoid biosynthesis, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, lipid metabolism, and RNA degradation. There were 22721 SSR in 81220 unigenes and in the SSR, A/T was the highest repeat, following by CCG/CGG and AGC/CTG. This study is the first comprehensive transcriptome analysis for Paspalum vaginatum, providing valuable genome data sources for the molecular biology of this grass.