Physiological leaf traits and accumulation of pollutants of ten woody species in response to air pollution at seriously polluted site Sanguigang (SGG) and control site Maofengshan (MFS) in Southern China were studied. Net photosynthetic rates of most species at SGG were lower than those at MFS, but stomatal conductance (g(s)) showed opposite trend. The specific leaf area of Aporusa dioica, Sapium discolor, Schefflera octophylla and Toxicodendron succedaneum were significantly, 46.77, 13.09, 55.11 and 23.51 %, higher in SGG than in MFS, while chlorophyll content being the opposite. A. dioica had the highest sulphur (S) content at both sites (11.74 mg g(-1) at SGG and 11.07 mg g(-1) at MFS). Heavy metals concentrations were generally higher in species at SGG than at MFS. S. octophylla showed significantly higher concentrations of Zn, Cd and Mn (341.81, 2.41 and 2,287.29 μg g(-1)) than other species at SGG. Moreover, A. dioica had the highest Pb concentration (9.19 μg g(-1)), and L. glutinosa showed the highest Cr concentration (3.40 μg g(-1)). According to the integrated results, we infer that A. dioica, S. octophylla and L. glutinosa are the promising species for phytoremediation in the ceramic industry polluted environment.