To explore the relationship between the essential oils from the rhizomes of Chinese Atractylodes medicinal plants in Dabie Mountains and its eastern hilly regions and the medicinal products. The medicinal plants of Atractylodes regions were investigated successively, GC—MS analysis was performed for 14 samples of different areas, and cluster analysis and principal component analysis were carried out by SPSS. Result: The colour of the essential oils of A. macrocephala, its transition types and A. chinensis was lighter, while of A. lancea in low altitude areas it was deeper.Clustering results showed that three categorizations were clustered. A. macrocephala was in a group, A. lancea distributed above 600 m in Dabie Mountains were in a group, while Atractylodes in yangtze-huaihe hilly regions and below 600 m in Dabie Mountains were in a group. Besides A. macrocephala , the hinesol content of other samples in different areas increased with increasing altitude, while the atractylone content decreased with altitude. The essential oils characteristics from the rhizomes of Chinese Atractylodes medicinal plants in Dabie Mountains and its eastern hilly regions were consistent with the regional division of Chinese crude drugs “Baizhu”, “Han Cangzhu”and “Bei Cangzhu”. The hinesol and atractylone contents of the breeds of Atractylodes had close relationship with the elevation.