The experiment was conducted in the area of weathering purple sandy rock from July in 1998 to September in 1999 to investigate the adaptability of some grasses on highway slope by the coverage with the ocular estimate. The results showed that the grasses with good adaptability were mainly tropical or subtropical graminaceous grasses. The coverage of Chinese pennisetum, Crested dogstail and Kikuyu grass were the highest, and that of Common Bermudagrass and Weeping alkaligrass were higher.Although the coverage of Crested dogstail and Korean lovegrass were high throughout the experiment, their color were not very green. The growth vigor of Indian couchgrass and Bahiagrass were strong during the last period of time. Among the temperate grasses, Tall fescue had a good tolerance to hot weather.Colonial bentgrass and Cocks foot can not tolerate drought, hot and barren soil, and declined quickly next year. Perennial ryegrass grew well in the first year. The leguminous forage grew strong especially during the dry winter and spring seasons. Alfafa had strong tolerance to drought and barren soil and cover well. The adaptability of red clover was also good. Kentucky bluegrass and zoysia grass grew slowly during their seedling time, and Weeping alkaligrass was not suitable to purple soil, and Carpet grass was not suitable to drought in high and dry area, they all cover slowly during the first period of time, and their coverage were low throughout the experiment. Bahiagrass and Birdsfoot trefoil could be utilized selectively.