Stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C), net photosynthetic rate (PN), actual quantum yield of photosystem 2 (PS2) electron transport (ΦPS2), nitrogen content (Nc), and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE) in the leaves of six broadleaf tree species were determined under field environmental conditions. The six tree species were Magnolia liliflora Desr., M. grandiflora Linn., M. denudata Desr., Prunus mume (Sieb.) Sieb. et Zucc. cv. Meiren Men, P. mume (Sieb.) Sieb. et Zucc. f. alphandii (Carr.) Rehd., and P. persica (L.) Batsch. var. rubro-plena. The relationships among δ13C, ΦPS2, P N, and PNUE, as well as their responses to Nc in the six species were also studied. Both P N and δ13C negatively correlated with Nc, but ΦPS2 positively correlated with Nc. This indicated that with Nc increase, PN and δ13C decreased, while ΦPS2 increased. There were weak negative correlations between δ13C and PNUE, and strong negative correlations (p<0.01) between ΦPS2 and PNUE. According to the variance analysis of parameters, there existed significant interspecific differences (p<0.001) of δ13C, PN, ΦPS2, PNUE, and Nc among the tree seedlings of the six tree species, which suggests that the potential photosynthetic capacities depend on plant species, irradiance, and water use capacity under field conditions. and S. X. Zheng, Z. P. Shangguan.