Objective To study the capability of absorbing benzene and formaldehyde of four indoor potted plants.Methods To place four indoor potted plants,Sansevieria trifasciata‘Laurentii',Syngonium podophyllum‘Gold Allusion',Scindarpsus aureus,Chlorophytum comosum‘Vittatum' in a sealed chamber filled with benzene at the initial concentration of 1.11-2.32 mg/m~3 and formaldehyde at the initial concentration of 17.0-34.7 mg/m~3.The concentration change of benzene was determined every two hours and for formaldehyde every six hours.Results As for absorbing benzene,four plants ranked as follows,Syngonium podophyllum‘Gold A llusion',Sansevieria trifasciata‘Laurentii',Scindapsus aureus,Chlorophytum comosum‘V ittatum'.As for absorbing formaldehyde,four plants ranked as follows,Chlorophytum comosum‘Vittatum',Sansevieria trifasciata‘Laurentii', Scindapsus aureus,Syngonium podophyllum‘Gold Allusion'.Conclusion The investigated plants can present the selective absorbing ability to the two gases,for example,Chlorophytum comosum‘Vittatum' can absorb formaldehyde obviously,but can't absorb benzene.The character of plant absorbing deleterious gas is that the absorbing capability will gradually reduce,but it can be resumed and repetitively used.