A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the allelopathic effect of decomposing leaf litter of camphor(Cinnamomum camphora) on the growth and photosynthetic characteristics of the two recipient crops [cabbage(Brassica chinensis) and lettuce(Lactuca sativa)].Four levels of leaf litter addition were applied to soil [namely 25,50 and 100 g·pot^-1) and CK(no leaf litter added)].The results showed that:(1)the decomposing camphor leaf litter showed inhibition effect on ground diameter,plant height,biomass,leaf number and leaf area of the two recipient crops.The inhibition effect to the recipient crops was enhanced with the increment of leaf litter,but with the extension of decomposition time the inhibition effect tended to weaken and even showed the promotion effect on recipient crops;(2)Leaf litter decomposition showed significant inhibition effect on photosynthetic pigment content of both crops,and the inhibition effect enhanced with the increment of leaf litter;(3)Application of leaf litter reduced the net photosynthetic rate(P_n),stomatal conductance(G_s),transpiration rate(T_r) and water use efficiency(WUE) and the intercellular CO₂ concentration(C_i) in all treatments;(4)With the increasing amount of leaf litter in soil,the maximum net photosynthetic rate(P_{n max}),apparent quantum efficiency(AQY),RuBP carboxylation efficiency(CE),light respiration rate(R_p) and dark respiration rate(R_d) of two crops were declined under the saturation condition of light and CO₂,but the light compensation point(LCP),light saturation point(LSP),CO₂ saturation point(CSP),CO₂ compensation point(CCP) showed different trends due to different recipient crops.Overall,this study suggested that,decomposing camphor leaf litter may release the allelochemicals which could reduce the chloroplast pigment synthesis and weaken the photosynthetic capacity of recipient crops,limit the vegetative growth of crops,and ultimately affect the biomass accumulation.Compared with lettuce,cabbage has the stronger tolerance to the inhibition effect of decomposing camphor leaf litter.It may be more suitable for intercropping with camphor.