We took the original plants and vegetation communities of Emeishan World Heritage Site as the study object and assessed the outstanding universal value from the aspects of species diversity,species composition,floristic composition, vegetation type and vertical distribution pattern,and briefly summarized the current situation of the endangered plants and the problems in protection and development in Emeishan World Heritage Site,based on the world heritage documents and vast literature. The results were as follows: ( 1) Emeishan World Heritage Site had more than 3 200 plant species belonging to 242 families as well as a large number of endemic species and tertiary-relic species. ( 2) Compared with the vertical band spectrum of other humid subtropical mountain forests in China,the subtropical forest vegetation types of Emeishan World Heritage Site was complete. Moreover,the eastern type of evergreen broad-leaved forest occupied a significant position in the vertical forest zones of Emeishan. It was particularly important that its upper limit of altitude was the highest and the span was the largest. The characteristics of the forest community in the eastern subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest were typical. ( 3) The flora was complex and diverse,including tropical,subtropical and temperate plant elements,and the geographical distribution of China-Japan and China-Himalaya. ( 4) However,due to the effects of human being activities,such as tourism development,infrastructure construction,and natural disturbances including climate warming,geological disasters on the vegetations and communities of the world heritage site,the plant diversities decreased obviously,the rare and endangered plants were increasingly threatened,the typical community area degenerated and the stability was reduced in the Emeishan World Heritage Site. Therefore,for the purpose of protecting its outstanding universal value and realizing the sustainable development of the world heritage site,we suggest that plant diversities,environmental factors and anthropogenic activities should be monitored dynamically in Emeishan area,on the basis of delineating rare plant protected areas and specialized protection of the plant habitats.