The objective of study was to investigate the effect of the amount of iron plaque of root surface on As uptake by rice seedlings grown on 14 types of soils. These results indicated that there were significant differences in the amounts of iron plaque (1.15-61.97 mg/g) formed on rice root surface among different soils. The amount of non-crystalloid Fe oxide in different submerged soils is one of main influencing factors. There was a significant positive correlation between As concentrations in iron plaque (0-1376 mg/kg) and the amount of iron plaque (r = 0.85, n=14, p < 0.05), but no significant correlation with the extractable As concentration of 14 types of soils. There were also significant positive correlation between As concentrations in shoot (0.400-12.98 mg/kg) and root (3.860-576.2 mg/kg) and the amounts of iron plaque respectively but not significant correlation with the extractable As concentrations of 14 types of soils (r = 0.88, n=14, p < 0.05; r = 0.91, n=14, p < 0.05). Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between specific arsenic uptake (0.005-0.670 mg/g) and the amount of iron plaque (r = 0.91, n=14, p < 0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between shoot-As% and the amount of iron plaque. These results showed that the iron plaque on root surface was the pool of As in rhizosphere and increased As uptake but did not affect As transportation from rice root to shoot.