Sprouting is a primary persistence mechanism in a site after a wide range of disturbances, and especially important where opportunities for seedling establishment are limited or only occur in harsh conditions. Sprouting facilitates coexistence in a patch- or sessile-dynamics framework, and is a part of the "regeneration niche" and a highly evolutionarily labile trait for plants. Sprout regeneration is an efficient mechanism for forest regeneration to regain lost biomass after disturbances, and has the important ecological function in regulating individual life history strategies of plants, and restoring secondary vegetation following intense disturbances, as well as maintaining species composition and structure of community. Sprouting is a complex ecophysiological process. The Sprouting ability of plant is not only affected by its exterior habitat, disturbances and resources level, but also controlled by its interior nutrient level and hormone situation. Broader study of sprouting has been recommended as a means of extending our understanding of plant functional types and traits. Agreement on the definition, measurement and systematic study of sprouting has been difficult, partly because sprouting behaviour is complex. In this study, we explore sprouting characteristic of different restoration stage communities by investigating sprouting of plant across three successional stages (15 years old (CF), 30 years old(CT), and old growth forest (OGF)) of monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forestry in Simao region, Yunnan Province. The results showed that there were 36 sprouting species in CF, while 24 sprouting species in CT, and 29 sprouting species in OGF, the percentage of sprouting species richness and abundance decreased with community restoration. The richness and its` percentage of family, genera and species of shrub were the lowest in CT, while no significant difference were detected to the richness of family, genera and species of tree and total species, Shannon-Wiener index and Simpson index in three different restoration stage communities, but the richness percentage of family, genera and species of tree and total species were the lowest in OGF. The hightest similarity existed between CF and CT, the lowest existed between CF and OGF. The major sprouting type in all of three different restoration stage communities was root sprouting, followed by stem basal sprouting. Stem epicormic sprouting appeared in CT and OGF, while branch epicormic sprouting only appeared in OGF. Sprouting type increased with community restoration. The descending order of species richness and abundance at different sprouting types were from root sprouting through stem basal sprouting and stem epicormic sprouting to branch epicormic sprouting. The major sprouting type of common sprouting species in three different restoration stage communities was also root sprouting. About growth characteristic of sprouting species, no significant difference were detected to the mean height and mean diameter of breast height(DBH) of tree, shrub and total sprouting species except that the mean height of shrub was lower in CT than in CF and OGF. In common sprouting species, the mean DBH and mean height of Castanopsis calathiformis, Castanopsis echidnocarpa and Machilus robusta were the highest in restoration early period, while the mean DBH and mean height of Schima wallichii and Litsea cubeba were the highest in OGF.