Abstract: The ingredients and their contents of volatile organic compounds from 24 tree species in Nanjing Zijing Mountain were analyzed with GCMS. The results showed that 165 compounds were determined in the 24 sorts of plants, and they composed terpenes, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, ethers, phenols and alkanes. The main volatile organic compounds in the tested plants were the terpenes and the alcohols. The terpenes content in Magnolia denudata was the highest accounted for 71.99 % of total volatile organic compounds. The next was Euonvmus fortunei (66.56 %), Firmiana simplex (50.30 %) and Ilex purpurea (8.14 %). The alcohols content of Ilex purpurea was the highest, its content accounts for the volatile organic compounds total quantity’s 78.53 %; The next was Pistacia chinensis(72.99 %), Viburnum dilatatum(66.69 %), Liquidambar formosana(58.81 %), Quercus acutissima(56.10 %), Cinnamomum camphora(54.46 %), M.grandiflora(7.48 %). The results could provide identification for the choice of plants in scenic forest.