To explore the seasonal variation rule of C, N and P stoichiometric characteristics of different shrub plant leaves, and reveal the adaptation strategies of desert plants to environment, with four main shrub plants in Minqin arid desert area (Haloxylon ammodendron, Calligonum arborescens, Nitraria tangutorum, Caragana korshinskii Kom.) as the research object, and in the growing season, we analyzed C, N and P contents and their measurement ratios. The results showed that: (1) The content of C in the leaves of C. arborescens and C. korshinskii Kom. were significantly higher than that of N. tangutorum and H. ammodendron (P< 0.05); N. tangutorum were significantly higher than H. ammodendron (P < 0.05); the difference between C. arborescens and C. korshinskii Kom. was not significant. The N content in the leaves of N. tangutorum was significantly higher than that of the other three plants (P< 0.05); the P content of N. tangutorum was the highest, and was significantly higher than that of C. korshinskii Kom., but both of them were not significantly different from H. ammodendron and Calligonum mongolicum. (2) Based on the total variation (resulting from two factors: season and species) for each parameter in these four shrubs, the rank of CV for each parameter was P (28.34%) > C∶P (24.70%) > N∶P (19.07%) > N (17.49%) > C∶N (16.89%) > C (2.91%). (3) C content was positively correlated with N and P contents but not significantly (P >0.05); except for C. mongolicum, the N content in leaves was significantly positively correlated with the P content (P < 0.05), the N∶P of four desert plants in Minqin was mainly determined by the change of P content. (4) Leaf C and N contents and leaf C∶N, C∶P and N∶P mass ratios were mainly determined by plant species, and leaf P content was mainly affected by growing season. It was thus clear that the contents of C, N, P and C∶N, C∶P and N∶P ratios in the leaves of desert plants in Minqin varied from species to species in the growing season, and their coefficient of variation in the growing season were also different among plant species.