Eight urban herbaceous plants (Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea, Poa pratensis, Agrostis palustris, Cynodon dactylon, Coreopsis lanceolata, Trifolium repens, Impatiens walleriana) were cultivated in Zn, Pb, Cu and Cd solutions of a series of concentrations to investigate the effects of heavy metals on seed germination and seedling growth. The results indicated that the effects of seed germination and seedling growth varied with metals and plants species. Zinc and Pb inhibited seed germination of Trifolium repens, but increased in other species. Both Cu and Cd inhibited seed germination to all the eight species. For seedling growth, all species were promoted differently by Zn and Pb but extremely decreased by Cu solutions, resulting in rootless seedlings even in low concentrations. Except for Poa pratensis, Cynodon Dactylon, Coreopsis lanceolata and Agrostis palustris, Cd also showed stress to the urban herbaceous plants. All the metals showed toxicity to root growth of all the species studied.