Abstract: Phytoremediation efficiency is usually restricted by the low bioavailability of heavy metals in the polluted soil. Application of chelator is an important technology for the improvement of phytoremediation efficiency,which could activate the heavy metals in the soil. In our study,a pot-cultured experiment was conducted to detect the effect of EDTA (0.25mmol·kg-1 soil) and citric acid (0.2mmol·kg-1 soil) on the morphological growth,physiological traits,nutrient content,and Cd accumulation in Cinnamomum camphora when the soil was polluted by Cd (10mg·kg-1 soil).The results included that:① Under Cd-polluted condition,the addition of EDTA,citric acid and both all increased the biomass of fine roots to a certain degree,but did not significantly affect the biomass of other organs,total biomass and the ratio of root to shoot.② The application of both chelator increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) significantly,but decreased the activity of peroxidase (POD),the content of malonaldehyde (MDA) was not significantly affected.③ EDTA alone increased N content in fine roots by 14 and P content in leaves by 15%. In contrast,the application of citric acid alone and a combining application of EDTA and citric acid decreased N content in fine roots by 20%,and P content in stems by 41% and 36%,respectively.④ Citric acid did not affect Cd content and its accumulation amount significantly in all organs.However,EDTA alone and the combination increased Cd content and accumulation amount significantly in all organs. Compared to a single application of chelator,there was a synergetic increase in Cd accumulation under interaction treatment. Such results indicated that although the maximum accumulation of Cd in plants achieved under the combined application of chelator,both N and P status were negatively affected when compared to Cd stress alone,which might induce negative effects on growth and Cd accumulation efficiency in the future. Therefore,it is recommended that the application of EDTA is a proper assistant method for phytoremediation.