Influenced by vegetation types, there are significant differences in the distribution and water holding characteristics of litter. This study selected four typical vegetation plots of Robinia psendoacacia, Caragana intermedia, Artemisia gmelinii and Bothriochlo aischaemum in the hilly area of the Loess Plateau, and studied the changes of litter volume, water holding capacity and storage capacity. The results showed that:(1) The surface litter volume (0.14~0.83 kg/m²) and soil litter volume (0.18~0.66 kg/m²) were both followed the order of forest land>shrub land>grassland, while the proportion of soil litter to total litter volume (44.1%~73.5%) was grassland>shrub land>forest land. Surface litters and soil litters in both R. psendoacacia and C. intermedia forest lands showed an alternate cycle of increasing and decreasing along the slope. However, the surface litter and soil litter increased with the increasing of slope length. (2) The water holding capacity of the litter was a logarithmic function of soaking time (R² ≥ 0.89, p<0.01). The water holding capacity of the surface litter of B. aischaemum was the highest, and the water holding capacity of the soil litter of R. psendoacacia forest was the highest. The maximum water holding capacity of soil litter was higher than that of surface litter in varying degrees, which was 1.9~2.5 times higher than that of surface litter. (3) The correction coefficient of effective interception of soil litter was 0.34~0.48, which was generally less than that of surface litter. The effective storage capacity of ground litter and soil litter was 2.4~12.5 t/hm² and 1.6~5.8 t/hm², respectively. The effective storage capacity of soil litter was lower than that of surface litter in forest land, while the opposite trend was found in the grassland. In general, the total effective interception of litter in R. pseudoacacia plot was the maximum (16.4 t/hm²), which was 1.5~4.1 times that of other plots. The results provided an important basis for evaluating the water-holding characteristics of litter in typical vegetation and understanding the hydrological effects of vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau.