The headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （HS-SPEM-GC-MS） technology was used to detect volatile substances in 30 common cultivated varieties of pantropical water lilies to detect the volatile components， identify the aroma active substances， and screen the excellent aromatic varieties of water lilies. The results showed that a total of 60 volatile compounds were identified in the 30 varieties of pantropical water lilies， with seven compounds including alkanes， alkenes， terpenoid， benzenoid， esters， alcohols， and aldehydes in descending order of content. Among them， alkanes and alkenes were the categories with higher content， with an average proportion of 42.43% and 28.61%， respectively， but they had no obvious odor characteristics. 19 active substances of odor were further screened by the odor activity value （OAV）. Among them， the characteristic substances of odor that can be perceived by the odor activity value （OAV>1） were all terpenoids including α-ionone， β-ionone， trans-β-ionone and farnesene， among which ionone endowed water lilies with woody and sweet fragrance， while farnesene endowed water lilies with apple and typical floral fragrance. It is indicated that the five varieties of water lilies including ‘Blue Bird’， ‘Kara Sunshine’， ‘Golden Country’， ‘Ruby’， and ‘Pink Diamond’ screened based on the odor activity value are potential elite varieties for landscaping use and processing product.