To investigate the ecophysiological adaptability and purification capacity of aquatic plants for eutrophication of sediment, 11 emergent aquatic plant species growing in eutrophied sediment from a brooklet in Guangzhou were studied in relation to leaf physiological and structural traits. The aquatic plants comprised six indigenous plant species and five exotic plant species. In this study, after 1 year, the light-saturated photosynthetic rate (P_sat, μmol m^-2 s^-1), specific leaf area (SLA, m²/kg), total nitrogen content (TN, mg/g), and photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (PNUE, μmol mol^-1 s^-1) in leaves of the 11 aquatic plant species were measured and their inter-relationships were analyzed. Changing gradients of interspecific SLA were clearly detected among the plant species. There was a nearly three-fold difference in SLA between the maximum shown by Echinodorus macrophyllus (20.31±0.30) and the minimum in Iris tectorum (7.22±0.31). Interspecific P_sat values of the plant species were between 3.76±0.57 (I. tectorum) and 21.53±1.20 (Hydrocleys nymphoides). The P_sat of H. nymphoides was 81.79% higher than that of I. tectorum. The PNUE ranged from 42.53±8.42 (I. tectorum) to 655.8±100.93 (Angelonia angustifolia) among the plant species. Although there were high PNUE values in Canna indica, H. nymphoides, Cyperus involucratus,and Typha orientalis, the interspecific differences were not significance (P > 0.05). The PNUE of these plant species were, however, significantly higher than those of plant species with lower PNUE (including Acorus calamus, Ruellia brittoniana, and I. tectorum, P < 0.05). The interspecific correlation between PNUE and P_sat (mass-based, μmol kg^-1s^-1) versus SLA was significantly positive, whereas in contrast, the correlation between SLA and P_sat (area-based, μmol m^-2s^-1) versus TN (area-based, mmol/m²) was significantly negative (P < 0.05). The PNUE, SLA, P_sat, and TN values of the exotic plant group were all significantly higher than those of the indigenous plant group (T-test, P < 0.05). Overall, these results suggest that the exotic aquatic plant species may use resources more efficiently in eutrophied habitats, and have potentially higher growth rates and advantages in interspecific competition.