It is very difficult for plants to grow in the polluted riparian flood zones due to the alternative changes of extreme drought and flooding. Torpedo grass (Panicum repens L.) has strong ability to tolerate to drought,flood and heavy metal,thus it can be used to improve the damaged riparian flood zones. In order to understand the adaptabil‐ ity and physiological response of torpedo grass to Cd stress under the condition of flooding,ecotypes of torpedo grass were screened. Hydroponics Experiments were conducted to simulate flooding environment in the riparian flood zones. Three ecotypes of torpedo grass collected from different habitats and regions were used to study its ecological adaptability and physiological responses to Cd stress. Three ecotypes including E ‐ dabaoshan (collected from Da‐ baoshan Tailings Land),E ‐ guangdong (collected from Guangdong) and E ‐ hainan (collected from Hainan) could fully tolerate Cd stress at concentrations below 12 mg/L,and their plant survival rates were as high as 70%~100%. However,the ability of branching decreased compared with CK. The shoot biomass of E‐dabaoshan under Cd treat‐ ment (12 mg/L) was 1. 76 -1. 86 times of E‐guangdongand and E‐hainan,respectively. Their morphological charac‐ teristics,such as branches,internode length,stem diameter,plant height and shoot biomass,were significantly higher than those of E‐guangdong and E‐hainan (P<0. 05),showing stronger phenotypic plasticity. The activities of peroxi‐ dase (POD) and catalase (CAT) and chlorophyll content of torpedo grass were inhibited under the Cd stress. The sensitivity of chlorophyll affected by Cd showed the trend: Chl‐a>Chl‐a+b>Chl‐b in the early stage of Cd stress. But with the prolongation of stress time,the inhibition rate of the activity of POD and CAT and chlorophyll content decrease. E ‐ dabaoshan was least inhibited. There was no significant differences between the activity of POD and CAT of E‐dabaoshan and CK on the 28dth (P> 0. 05),which is consistent with the performance of morphological in‐ dicators. The results suggest that E‐dabaoshan may gradually repair cadmium damage leading to high cadmium toler‐ ance. According to the performance of three ecotypes,combined with the soil habitat conditions,it implies that the original habitat conditions of torpedo grass have a greater impact on the adaptability of Cd stress.