Abstract: The co-relationships between nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and lead concentrations of nine predominant herbaceous plant species in the Sanhe lead-zinc mining tailings were studied and the distribution characteristics within the growth period were explored. 1) The concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in shoots of plants were higher than in roots and they all decreased with the extension of the growth stages. 2) None of the plant species accumulated lead above 1 000 mg/kg (criteria for hyperaccumulator of lead) in the shoots. However, the roots of Athyrium wardii can uptake a great deal of lead, and the maximum concentration and accumulation concentration were 15 542.1 mg/kg and 41.81 mg/plant, respectively. 3) In addition to the later growth, the shoot concentrations of nitrogen and potassium with lead of the nine predominant herbaceous plants in mining tailings showed significant positive correlations (0.750^* and 0.773^* respectively) but there were no significant correlations between the concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and lead. 4) The lead concentration of shoots in early growth stages had no significant relationship (P<0.05) with that of roots. However, in vigorous and late growth stages, the correlations between the lead concentrations of shoots and roots in the same, or in different growth stages were significant or highly significant (P<0.01) respectively.