Abstract:To explore the effects of plant growth regulators on growth and physiological metabolism of the rare economic tree species Cylocarya paliurus, foliar fertilizers of chlormequat chloride (C1: 500 mg/L, C2: 1000 mg/L, C3: 1500 mg/L, C4: 2000 mg/L), tridibenzyl (T1: 50 mg/L, T2: 100 mg/L, T3: 150 mg/L, T4: 200 mg/L), and brassinolide (B1: 0.05 mg/L, B2: 0.1 mg/L, B3: 0.15 mg/L, B4: 0.2 mg/L) were sprayed on one-year-old C. paliurus seedlings. The results showed that T1 treatment had the most significant inhibitory effect on the increase in seedling height and the most significant promoting effect on the increase in ground diameter. B4 treatment was the most effective in promoting the increase in the number of branches. All three plant growth regulators could promote the accumulation of seedling biomass, with the total biomass accumulation of seedlings being the highest under C2 treatment. The peroxidase (POD) activity in the leaves of seedlings was the highest under T2 treatment. All three plant growth regulator treatments could significantly increase the indoleacetic acid oxidase (IOD) activity in the leaves of seedlings, with the highest activity under C4 treatment. Seedling height was significantly negatively correlated with ground diameter, and seedling height was significantly negatively correlated with POD and IOD activities, while ground diameter was significantly positively correlated with the activities of the two enzymes, and POD activity was significantly positively correlated with IOD activity. All three plant growth regulators could effectively inhibit the increase in seedling height, among which tridibenzyl showed the strongest dwarfing effect, while brassinolide performed best in promoting branching. Moderate concentrations of growth regulators significantly promoted the accumulation of seedling biomass; the increase in POD and IOD enzyme activities could promote the accumulation of root biomass and inhibit the increase in seedling height. Therefore, choosing the appropriate concentration of growth regulators based on the cultivation purpose can effectively improve the structure and function of C. paliurus leaf-use forests.