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Long chain n-alkanes preserved in peat deposits have been widely used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental and paleoecological changes. However, our knowledge of how the leaf wax molecular and isotopic compositions of peat sequences might respond to changes in plant communities is limited. This study investigates the n-alkane molecular, carbon and hydrogen isotopic compositions of plant species collected from the Dajiuhu peatland, central China. The results show that forb and graminoid plants growing in peatlands have a relatively higher carbon preference index of long-chain n-alkanes than shrubs, ferns and aquatic plants. The δ¹³C values of individual n-alkanes generally decrease with increasing chain lengths, and different plant groups have similar δ¹³C values of C₃₁ and C₃₃ n-alkanes. An exception is Sphagnum, which has more negative δ¹³C values of C₂₃ and C₂₅ than those of its longer …