Changes in altitude incur changes in environmental conditions including light, temperature and humidity. These changes have notable effects on plant metabolism, structure and function of plants. Moreover, specific combinations of plant functional traits can serve as indicators of a plant's response strategies towards environmental fluctuations. Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) Ying is a traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicinal herb that usually grows in flat valleys, understories, forest margins, or grassy thickets at high altitude ranging from 2700 to 4500 m. The rhizome and roots of this plant are abundant in podophyllotoxin, a compound known for its efficacy in treating various types of cancers, and its content is closely related to the distribution of plant biomass among organs, however, the biomass allocation pattern of S. hexandrum is not yet known. To gain insight into this problem, we need to understand the strategies S. hexandrum uses for resource acquisition and utilization in its natural environments. We utilized field sites in alpine meadows of the Tibetan Plateau at two different altitudes to compare the functional traits, photosynthetic physiology, and biomass allocation characteristics to determine biomass allocation pattern in wild habitat. The results showed that (1) The non-structural carbon content in the leaves of S. hexandrum decreased with increasing altitude. However, there was an increasing trend in the fine roots. Additionally, the contents of Chla, Chlb, Chla/b, and Chl(a+b) in the leaves exhibited significant decrease with increasing altitude (P<0.05). This suggests that the plant’s adoption of a 'slow-reimbursement' strategy, characterized by lower specific leaf area (SLA), chlorophyll content, and net photosynthetic rate at higher altitude, reflects a trait trade-off pattern for adapting to the alpine grassland environment. (2) Altitude had a significant (P<0.05) effect on the biomass allocation strategies of roots and leaves of S. hexandrum. As altitude increased, the biomass allocation of S. hexandrum to underground parts (roots and rhizomes) increased by 40% for roots and 26% for rhizomes, while the allocation to aboveground parts (stems and leaves) decreased. The biomass of each organ showed an allometric growth relationship with individual size, which is consistent with the metabolic theory of ecology (MTE). This study helps to provide a theoretical basis and data support for the management of alpine grassland plants as well as its artificial cultivation, and helps to promote the sustainable development of endangered traditional Chinese medicine resources.