A solution culture experiment has been carried out to study the effects of different cadmium levels (0-15 mg·L-1) on the biomass, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione(GSH), PCs(phytochelatins) and total acid soluble SH in Canna indica Linn. The results show that 1 mg·L-1 Cd in the solution significantly increases the biomass of Canna indica Linn (p<0.05). The activity of SOD, POD, and CAT was increased. The increase of Cd2+ enhances the SOD, POD, CAT activity and the MDA accumulation (p<0.05), which indicates that Canna indica Linn has been stressed by Cd. Under this condition, the GSH、PCs、SH in Canna indica Linn increase as well. This means Cd stress induces the production of PCs which helps to decrease its harm to the plant. The roots have more PCs than the leaves. The higher the Cd concentration of the solution used in the experiment the more Cd in the tissues of Canna indica Linn. At the level of 15 mg·L-1 Cd of the solution, the concentration of Cd in the shoots reaches 555.4 mg·kg-1, which proves the ample accumulation capacity of Canna indica Linn, and the Canna indica Linn was a potential species for phytoremediation of water polluted by moderate concentration of Cd.