Abstract:Aims Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata), an important tree of timber plantations in South China, is a fast-growing coniferous species with high yield and quality of wood. Since the forest soil in South China is highly heterogeneous in nutrients, our objective is to study responses of Chinese fir to soil heterogeneity. Methods We used pot experiments under heterogeous and homogeneous environments to study tree growth, dry matter accumulation and allocation, root morphology and nutrient absorption efficiency of three open-pollinated varieties of C. lanceolata (`Long 15’, `Jinping 45’ and `Jing 398’) to detect the differences in their adaptability to the heterogenous nutrient environment. Important findings The three varieties were significantly different in their adaptability to the heterogenous nutrient environment and in their response to soil patches. `Jinpin 45’ exhibited higher plant height, higher biomass accumulation and more developed roots in the heterogeneous environment than homogeneous environment, but `Long 15’ and `Jing 398’ grew better in the homogeneous environment. Al though the responses of the three varieties were different, roots proliferated mainly in poor patches. `Jinping 45’ showed high root physiological plasticity in the heterogeneous environment, but `Long 15’ and `Jing 398’ were low and average, respectively, in the hererogeous environment. The root concentration of N, P and K in the heterogeous environment (poor-patch) was lower than in the homogeneous environment (rich-patch); this is different from Pinus massoniana, which had high nutrient absorption. However, concentration of nutrients was not lower in rich-patch than poor- patch. Further more, it can be inferred that `J inping 45’ grew better in the heterogeneous environment than the homogeneous environment not only because of physiological plasticity but also because of a larger portion of biomass and nutrients distributed to leaves.