The effect of eutrophic sewage water on plant physiological characteristics was investigated using Canna indica as materials. It was shown that eutrophic water significantly inhibited the growth of Canna indica, which was represented by the slow increase of biomass and the decrease of chlorophyll content. Furthermore，increased concentrations of N and P in eutrophic water led to the continuous increase of peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase activities while the vibrating range decreased dramatically compared with the control. In addition, malondialdehyde content increased greatly in Canna indica under eutrophic water. These results demonstrated that in eutrophic water, the activites of active oxygen-scavenging enzymes(POD，SOD and CAT) of Canna indica were interrupted, resulting in decreased active oxygen scavenging capacity, intensified oxidative stress and more serious membrane lipid peroxidation, which might be one of the reasons leading to the effect of eutrophic water on plant growth and one of the limiting factors in eutrophic sewage remediation effect of plants.