Abstract: In this paper, we investigated the effects of abscisic acid(ABA)(0, 1, 10 and 100 mg/L)on growth, photosynthesis characteristics and antioxidant enzyme activities of Indian sandal wood(Santalum album)seedlings by conducting a container culture experiment. The results showed that the net photosynthesis rate(P_n), stomatal conductance(G_s), transpiration rate(T_r), chlorophyll a(Chl a)content in leaves of sandal wood seedlings were significantly increased after 1 mg/L ABA treatment, while malondialdehyde(MDA)content in leaves were significantly decreased, the activities of superoxidase(SOD), peroxidase(POD), catalase(CAT)were statistically improved, and biomass accumulation, quality index(QI)were also promoted. With the ABA concentration increase(10-100 mg/L), P_n, chl a content and antioxidant enzymes activities were decreased, the growth of sandal wood seedlings were also inhibited slightly. These findings indicated that exogenous low concentration ABA could enhance the capacity of scavenging active oxygen species, and improve photosynthesis, protect sandal wood seedlings from lipid peroxidation. As a result, to promote seedling growth and quality of sandal wood seedlings, the optimal ABA concentration for foliar application of sandal seedlings was 1 mg/L.