Abstract: Terminalia franchetii is an endemic species, often form "savanna grass" landscape with native grasses Heteropogon contortus. But for a long time, T. franchetii seedlings are rarely successful establishment in the natural community. In order to investigate the effects of H. contortus on the early growth and survival of T. franchetii seedlings, through the indoor pot experiment and artificially controlling the intensity of competition between T. franchetii seedlings and H. contortus, the effects of H. contortus competition on T. franchetii seedlings' morphology, biomass accumulation and distribution as well as the number and size of leaves were studied. The results showed that, T. franchetii seedlings' morphology, biomass accumulation and distribution as well as the number and size of leaves were significantly affected by H. contortus competition and the early growth of T. franchetii seedlings were severely restricted. When competed by H. contortus, the biomass allocation pattern of T. franchetii seedlings could not be changed significantly, and the R/S ratios changed from 0.42 to 0.62. No matter when the T. franchetii seedlings settle down, their roots length and dry biomass would be limited because of shortened or reduced resources. However, the settlement time and survival status of T. franchetii seedlings play very important roles. The R/S ratios of the early settlers were higher than that of the later settlers and delayed settlers, and not affected by the competitive intensity of H. contortus. So the T. franchetii showed a strong competitiveness.