Abstract: A study on the water consumption properties of six adaptable species of nursery stocks on Loess plateau shows that under suitable soil water condition, Populus and Robinia pseadoacacia have the highest water consumption, Caragana microphylla comes to the next,and Hippophae rhamnoides, Pinus taholaeformis and Biota orientalis have the lowest consumption. When water deficit is from medium to serious, the decline in water consumption. of Populus , Robinia pseudodcacia and Caragana microphylla is obvious, but that of other 3 species is unobvious. Under the same water content, the leaf area of Robinia pseudoacacia changes greatestly, and its leaf begins to death at the earliest time; the shoot growth of Populus and Rdenia pseadoacacia is the highest, that of Hippophae rhamnoides and Caragana microphylla comes to the next, and that of Pinus tabulaeformis and Biota orientalis is the lowest, and which have the highest water consumption coefficient, but Hippophae rhamnoides has the lowest one.

Key words: Nursery stock, Water consumption property, Loess plateau, phenotypic plasticity, dryland wheat, physiological plasticity, artificial selection, evolution