Characteristics of leaf morphology and vegetation were examined in 6 populations of rare endemic tree species, Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm. Additionally we studied genetic variation employing isozyme marker. Nested anova showed that there were statistically significant differences among populations as well as among individuals within populations in all 8 leaf morphological traits. In 7 of 8 traits, variance components among populations were larger than those among individuals within populations. Only a few tree species were found within each population and all the populations seemed to have been disturbed by man. Level of genetic diversity for this rare endemic species was very low, especially compared with those of geographically widespread tree species(A/L=1.1, P=9.5%, H_o-0.021, H_e=0.035) and degree of genetic differentiation was high(F_(ST)=0.114). Factors contributing to the low level of genetic diversity and high level of genetic differentiation might include genetic drift, inbreeding and limited gene flow. Finally, implications for the conservation of genetic diversity of Koelreuteria paniculata were discussed.