Leafshapesarenotonlytheusefulindicatorsinplanttaxonomy,butalsotheimportantfactorsaffectingenergyandmaterialexchangeinleaves.Inthispaper,wecollectedandscannedtheleavesofNitrariatangutoruminDengkouofInnerMongoliaAutonomousRegion（themeanannualprecipitation145mm）andMinqinofGansuProvince（themeanannualprecipitation115mm）andN.sphaerocarpainDunhuang,andthenanalyzedleafshapeparameterswithImage-ProPlus6.0imageprocessingsoftwareandleafδ13CvaluesintheisotopelaboratoryoftheChineseAcademyofForestry.Theresultshowedthat:1)asleafareaincreasedwithincreasingwateravailabilitytheincreasesintheleaflengthandwidthwereasynchronously;2)withthesameleafwidth,the1eavesofN.tangutorumandN.sphaerocarpaweresignificantlylongerinhighwateravailableconditions;and3)althoughthereweresignificantlydifferencesinwateravailabilitybetweenDengkouandMinqin,aswellasbetweenthebottomandmiddleofthealluvialfanneartheEastLakeinDunhuang,theleafδ13CvaluesofN.tangutorumorN.sphaerocarpaweresimilarindifferentwaterconditions（P>0.05）.Ourresultssuggestedthattheratioofleafperimetertoareawouldbeanimportantfactorwhichlinkedleafshapetoplantwaterphysiology.Duringgrowingprocedureofleafarea,leaflengthincreasewaspriortoitswidthtoalleviatethereductioninratioofperimetertoareaandmaintainwateruseefficiencyoftheplant.
