OBJECTIVE：To establish the method for the content determination of inorganic elements in Cyperus rotundus ，and to compare the contents of 14 kinds of inorganic elements in C. rotundus from different producing areas ，and to provide theoretical basis for its quality control and high quality resources development . METHODS ：The samples were processed by microwave digestion，and ICP-MS method was used to determine the contents of Na ，Mg，K，Ca，Mn，Fe，Ni，Cu，Zn，As，Se，Sr，Cd and Pb. SPSS 23.0 software were used for principal component analysis （PCA）and cluster analysis. RESULTS ：The average contents of above 14 kinds of inorganic elements in C. rotundus from different producing areas were 168.62，753.71， 6 938.33，24.31，14.69，197.77，0.60，2.43，26.89，0.21，0.06，5.64，0.05，0.32 mg/kg，respectively. The results of PCA showed that the cumulative variance contribution rate of the first four principal components was 86.203％，which could reflect most of the information of the original data. C. rotundus from Shandong ，Jiangxi，Shanxi，Hubei and Yunnan ranked the top five places in terms of comprehensive score of inorganic element contents. The results of cluster analysis showed that the samples from 9 producing areas were clustered into 5 categories，showing the characteristics of clustering by producing area. From the perspective of inorganic elements ，the quality of C. rotundus from East China ，Central China ，North China and Southwest China was better than that from South China. CONCLUSIONS ：Essential trace elements like Na ，Mg，K，Ca，Mn，Fe，Cu，Zn，Sr are rich in C. rotundus，and there are small amounts of Ni ，As，Se，Cd，Pb elements in it. The contents difference of inorganic elements in C. rotundus from different origins may related to the geographical area it belongs to.