Abstract: To analyze the law of 13 inorganic elements of Hedysari Radix in different growth ages by ICP-MS. The result showed that the contents of As, Pb, B, Al, Ti, Ga and Ba were no significant difference (P>0.05),the contents of Hg, Be and Mo were significant difference (P<0.01),the contents of V,Ce and Sr were obviously difference (P<0.05). The result of correlation analysis showed that growth ages of Hedysari Radix had significantly negative correlation with Hg and Mo contents and had significantly positive correlation with V contents and had significantly negative correlation with B contents. There were the linear regression relationship between the contents of inorganic elements and growth ages, there were the linear discriminant function of Fisher between the contents of Hg and V and growth ages. Hg, Mo, Ce and B were the characteristic trace elements of Hedysari Radix. The inorganic elements characterized the differences of the quality of samples with different growth ages. Our results provided a reference for identifying the growth ages of other leguminous medicinal plants and studying relationships with inorganic elements and growth ages.

Key words: Hedysari Radix, growth ages, inorganic elements, correlation