OBJECTIVE:To compare and analyze the contents of inorganic elements in 15 kinds of Paeonol saffuruticosa from different origins,and to lay the fowndation for the discrimination of its genuine regional drug. METHODS:ICP-MS and ICP-OES were conducted to determine the contents of inorganic elements in 15 kinds of P. saffuruticosa. ICP-MS determination conditions: the powder was 1 200 W, atomizer pressure was 1.6 bar, molecular pump motor current was 2 A, molecular pump speed was 1 000 Hz, bake box tuning parameters were Load 59 and Tune 190; ICP-OES determination conditions: the powder was 1 300 W, plasma gas flow rate was 15 L/min, auxiliary cooling gas flow was 0.2 L/min, atomizer flow rate was 0.8 L/min, reading time (automatic) was 1-5 s, and the injection volume was 1.5 ml/min. SPSS 19.0 software was conducted for the cluster analysis of 15 batches of samples; SIMCA-P 11.0 software was combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to analyze the main elements in 15 batches of samples. RESULTS: Cluster analysis showed specific areas (Tongling) and non-specific area may be better and divided into two types; PCA can cluster the medicines from different origins into different groups; PLS-DA shows the main elements in samples were lithium, zinc, lead, iron and potassium. CONCLUSIONS: The contents of inorganic elements in P. saffuruticosa genuine regional drug and non-genuine regional drug one show certain differences with the types.