Because of the economical and biological benefits, ornamental plant has become a new source for phytoremediation in recent years. In this study, three kinds of ornamental plants, Mimosa pudica, Tradescantia sillamontana and Porulaca afra were tested under five cadmium ( Cd ) application rate levels that range from 0mg?kg-1 to 100mg?kg-1 by pot-planting method. The growth indexes, physiological indexes and the Cd accumulation in them were studied after a growing period of 50 days. The results showed that Cd had distinct inhibition on the growth of plant, the average tolerance index of M. pudica, T. sillamontana and P. afra were 105.57, 81.35 and 79.88 separately, and the most growth indexes of them had significant differences with the control group in Cd concentration of 50mg?kg-1. The physiological indexes were also influenced by Cd stress obviously, in the content of photosynthetic pigment tested, chlorophyll a contents of M. pudica, T. sillamontana and P. afra were 83.74%, 60.64% and 60.64% separately, compared with the control group, while chlorophyll b contents of them were only 69.83%, 51.26% and 51.26% of the control, but both the contents of carotenoid and chlorophyll a/b values of them were not obviously changed, some of them even raised with the increased Cd concentration, these indicated that Cd do more damage to chlorophyll than to carotenoid, and chlorophyll b was the most sensitive one to Cd pollution in them. For the balance of superoxide system was destroyed under Cd stress, with the rise of Cd, the production rate of superoxide in M. pudica, T. sillamontana and P. afra were all increased, which lead to the accumulation of superoxide and the rise of the MDA contents in three ornamental plants, meanwhile, as a result of the destroyed cell membrane, the selective permeability of cells declined and the electrical conductivity of them were all moved up significantly, the production rate of superoxide, the contents of MDA and electrical conductivity were all correlated well with the Cd added concentration, and the variation range of M. pudica was the smallest, while P. afra was the highest among them. Forming the effects on the growth indexes and physiological indexes, we could found that the tolerance of Cd was M. pudica>T. sillamontana>P. afra. The accumulation and distribution of heavy metals in plant were also important indexes in choosing patient species. In our study, with the rise of the Cd the accumulation of Cd in both the root and the above ground parts of ornamental plants tested were all increased; P. afra had the highest accumulation in them as the Cd concentration in its root and the above ground parts reaching 612.37 mg?kg-1and 259.47 mg?kg-1 separately in 100mg?kg-1, but the transform ability of Cd in T. sillamontana was the strongest under high Cd stress as the translocation factor of it were all above 0.6 from 10mg?kg-1 to 100mg?kg-1. The Cd concentration in these ornamental plants were all above 100mg?kg-1 when the add-concentration of Cd reached 100mg?kg-1 and the accumulation ability was P. afra>M. pudica>T. sillamontana. From the discussion above, we can reach a conclusion that M. pudica, T. sillamontana and P. afra all have high tolerance and strong accumulate ability to Cd, so they all have certain applied value in the treatment of Cd polluted areas.