The relationship between aquatic plants and environmental factors provides a significant scientific basis for lake restoration.In this study, we investigated community composition of aquatic plants and the relationship between macrophytes and environmental factors, based on the survey about 10 lakes with different trophic levels in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, from June to July in 2013.Results showed that there were 11 macrophytes species belonging to 6 families, 7 genera.Redundancy analysis indicated that total nitrogen, pH and depth are the key factors for the distribution of aquatic plants in lakes with different trophic levels in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.