In the present paper, the contents of metal elements from six kinds of desert plants, namely Haloxylon ammodendron, Caragana microphylla, Ammopiptanthus mongolicus, Salix bordensis, Elaeagnus angusti folia, and Salix psammophila in Inner Mongolian were determined by ICP-AES technique. The recovery ratio obtained by standard addition method ranged between 94.98% and 120.25%, and the RSD was lower than 3.4%. The results of determination showed that the major elements Ca, K, Mg, Na and Al, and trace elements essential to plant vital activities such as Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn exhibit different orders in content in the six kinds of desert plants, and the contents of four elements, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn are lower than the average content of terrestrial plants. The above results provided reliable data and theory bases for improving environment in west China and choosing weather-resistant and sand-fixation tree species.