In order to investigate the community characteristics and species diversity changes of Rhododendron shrub in different communities in northwest Guizhou Province, the species composition, importance value and diversity index of 5 Rhododendron communities were analyzed. The results showed that there were 33 species belonging to 23 genera, 16 families, 27 species in shrub layer and 6 species in herb layer, respectively. The dominant species of five Rhododendron shrubs were Lyonia ovalifolia, Lyonia ovalifolia and Rhododendron irroratum, Lyonia ovalifolia and Rhododendron irroratum, Rhododendron irroratum, Rhododendron irroratum and Rhododendron maculiferum. The α diversity index of shrub layer was significantly different among the five Rhododendron shrub communities. The Margalef richness index and Simpson diversity index of shrub layer were the largest in Rhododendron irroratum+Rhododendron maculiferum shrub community (V), and the smallest diversity index was present in Lyonia ovalifolia shrub community (I). Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Pielou evenness index had the largest values in Lyonia ovalifolia+Rhododendron irroratum shrub community (II), while the Lyonia ovalifolia shrub community (I) was the smallest. The Rhododendron irroratum+Rhododendron maculiferum shrub community (V) had a tendency of evolving into subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest. The values of Whittaker index, Jaccard index and Sorenson index of adjacent communities with high coverage of Rhododendron plants were higher than those of adjacent communities with low coverage.