Catalpa fargesii f.duclorxii,Catalpa fargesii Bur.,Catalpa ovata G.Don and Catalpa bungei C.A.Mey were used as test materials to screen the excellent cold resistant germplasm resources.During the natural low tem-perature stress period,semi-lethal temperatures,soluble sugar content,starch content,dry matter content,ATPase activity,5'-AMP enzyme activity and abscisic acid(ABA)content were measured.Principal component analysis me-thod and membership function method were used to evaluate the cold resistance comprehensively.The results showed that:(1)the specific intracellular resistance(ri),soluble sugar content,dry matter content and ABA content of four Catalpa spp.species increased with the decrease of the semi-lethal temperature.(2)The soluble sugar con-tent and dry matter content were significantly negatively correlated with the semi-lethal temperature,while the starch content was significantly positively correlated with the semi-lethal temperature.(3)According to the compre-hensive evaluation by principal component analysis and membership function method,the cold resistance of four Catalpa spp.under natural low temperature stress were as follows:Catalpa ovata G.Don>Catalpa fargesii Bur>Catalpa bungei C.A.Mey>Catalpa fargesii f.duclorxii.This study provides scientific theoretical basis for improving the breeding level and extending the cultivation range of Catalpa spp..