A method of microwave digestion technique was proposed to determine thecontent of Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, K, Ca, Mg, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr, Co, Al, Se and As inlophatherum gracile brongn of different habitat by atomic absorptionspectroscopy. The RSD of the method was between 1.23% and 3.32%, and the recoveryrates obtained by standard addition method were between 95.8 ％and 104.2％. Theresults of the study indicate that the proposed method has the advantages ofsimplicity, speediness and sensitivity. It is suitable for the determination ofthe contents of metal elements in lophatherum gracile brongn. The experimentalresults also indicated that different areas’ lophantherum gracile brongn haddifferent trace elements content. The content of trace elements K, Mg, Ca, Fe andMn beneficial to the human body was rich. The content of the heavy metal traceelement Pb in lophantherum gracile brongn of Hunan province was slightly high.The content of the heavy metal trace element Cu in lophantherum gracile brongn ofGuangdong province and Anhui province is also slightly higher. Beside, thecontents of harmful trace heavy metal elements Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb and As inlophatherum gracile brongn of different habitat are all lower than the limits ofChinese Pharmacopoeia and Green Trade Standard for Importing and ExportingMedicinal Plant and Preparation and National Food Sanitation Standard. Thesedetermination results provided the scientific data for further discussing therelationship between the content of trace elements in lophantherum gracile brongnand the medicine efficacy.Lophatherum gracile; Trace elements(200510)资助