Taking 2 years old Melaleuca bracteata cv.‘Revolution Gold’ as the test materials,using potted approach simulate soil drought conditions,we set 6 levels of water supply treatment.They are 100% saturation soil moisture,80%(normal watering),60%(light drought),40%(moderate drought),20%(severe drought) and 10%(extreme drought),respectively,we studied its growth and physiological characteristics under different water treatments.The results showed that:(1)The plant height,crown width and leaf area were grew well under 100% saturation soil moisture condition,but had no significant difference compared with the control.Only their crown width slightly declined in 60% saturation soil moisture,but the growth were greatly reduced with the intensifying stress;(2)Under drought stress,the dry weight,dry weight/fresh weight and specific leaf weight had no significant difference compared with the control but the leaf modal traits greatly decreased;(3)With water stress intensifying,Ss,Pro and MDA contents in the leaves all showed a tendency to increasing;they were firstly increased and then decreased with time.With the extension of stress time,the activities of SOD and CAT in the leaves increased first and then decreased,but had no significant difference compared with the control at the end of the experiment.Drought stress significantly increased the content of chlorophyll(Chl a+b).The result indicated that the growth of M.bracteata cv.‘Revolution Gold’ were inhibited in different degree of drought stress,but they could ensure the normal photosynthesis by increasing the content of chlorophyll,mitigating drought damage.However,there was no mortality even under extreme drought stress ［the actual moisture content(4.42±0.82)%］,which indicated that the shrubs tolerate drought by reducing leaf area while increasing the contents of Ss,Pro and the activities of SOD and CAT enzymes.