The leaf characteristics of crops reflect their capability of resources utilization. Two crops（Helianthus annuus and Zea mays） in the Ulan Buh Desert oasis were selected as the research objects. The specific leaf area（SLA）and leaf dry matter content（LDMC） were calculated through the measurement of leaf area（LA）, saturated wet leafweight and dry leaf weight. The results showed that the leaf areas of the two crops were both significantly linear relat-ed to their leaf weight, so it was feasible to calculate the leaf area through leaf weight. The calculation of leaf areathrough wet leaf weight showed greater accuracy and less error. The SLA, LDMC of the two crops were all in very sig-nificant difference（P＜0.0001）, the SLA of Helianthus annuus and Zea mays were（17.77±5.41）m²/kg,（11.29±2.22）m²/kg, respectively, and the LDMC were（170.93±31.15）mg/g,（266.85±43.91）mg/g, respectively. The SLA was signif-icantly negative related to the LDMC（r=-0.9005, P＜0.0001）, which could be expressed by the form of power func-tion y=ax^-b. The SLA and LDMC well reflected the capability of resources utilization of crops.