Abstract: Erigeron breviscapus were planted in rendzina,terra rossa,orthic red earth,yellow red earth,purplish soil and humic soil to investigate effects of soil types on accumulation of total caffeates and scutellarin.Results showed significant differences existed in total caffeates and scutellarin among the various tested soil types,and the total caffeates or scutellarin content was the highest in plants growing in terra rossa,yellow red earth and purplish soil,and the lowest in rendzina and humic soil.The difference in the content of total caffeates or scutellarin between soil subgroups was larger than that between soil groups in the Chinese Soil Taxonomy.Content of total caffeates and scutellarin of E.breviscaps was not significantly related to contents of P or K,but was negatively correlated with the content of total and available N in the soil.F_v/F_v of leaves was significantly negatively related to the content of total caffeates and scutellarin.The variation of the content of the secondary metabolites in plants grown in different type of soil was consistent with both the carbon-nutrient balance hypothesis and the resource availability hypothesis.