Abstract: The composition and content of anthocyanins in the petals of Camellia reticulata Lindl. were studied shading at the different levels. The results showed that 13 major anthocyanins in the petals were identified by high pressure liquid chromatography（HPLC）analysis. Among which cyanidin 3-O-(2-O-b-xylosyl)-b-glucose （Cy3GX）and cyanidin 3-O-[2-O-b-xylosyl-6-O-(E)-p-coumaroyl]-b-glucose （Cy3GEpCX）were the main anthocyanin in the petals of C. reticulata，and theirs contents reach up to 60.4%–64.2% of total anthocyanins in petals. The contents of the 13 anthocyanins were observed increase at first then reduce with the shade rate increased，and/or the shading time extended，but theirs percentage did not change among total anthocyanins. The contents of Cy3GX，Cy3GEpCX and total anthocyanins were found to increase significantly when the plant was covered by 70% shade net；And 60% shade net covering have similar effects. Comparing with non shading plants，the highest content of anthocyanins was produced at the 21st day covering in the 60% and 70% shade nets. However，the contents of the three anthocyanins were reduced with the shading time was extended in 90% shade net，even lower than the non-shading. It is important for the plant of Yunnan camellia flowersbeing appropriate shaded with shade net in order to increase quantity of anthocyanins，and to improve the flower color.

Key words: camellia flower, Camellia reticulata Lindl.；anthocyanin；pigment；shade；HPLC