Abstract: Three kinds of ecological floating beds were made of Canna indica, Aglaonema modestum and Scindapsus aureus, respectively, to study their effects on removing nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. The experiment lasted 46 days. The results indicated that three landscape plants were adaptable to grow in the urban river, and their biomass, height and root significantly increased at the end of experiment. The increasing rate was Canna indica > Aglaonema modestum > Scindapsus aureus. The removal rates of N by Canna indica,Scindapsus aureus and Aglaonema modestum were 93.95%, 90.25%, 92.60%, respectively, all of which were higher than the control (60.44%). The removal rates of NH₄⁺-N were 98.06%, 95.07%, 97.61%, respectively. NH₄⁺-N removal by Canna indica and Scindapsus aureus was through nitrification, while in Aglaonema modestum it was through NH₃ volatilization. In the control treatment, NH₄⁺-Nremoval was through NH₃ volatilization, and reached 81.62%. NO₃^--N concentration had the tendency first to increase and later to decrease in the Canna indica and Scindapsus aureus treatments, but was slightly different in theAglaonema modestum and control treatments. This related to the nitrification, denitrification and plant adsorption. Three plants had good removal effects on the total phosphorus and COD_Mn, which were higher than the control treatment. Based on their good effects on nitrogen and phosphorus removal, three landscape plants are recommended as species of aquatic vegetation in phytoremediation of wastewater of urban river.