A method of high performance liquid chromatography（HPLC） combined with LTQ-Orbitrap XL mass spectrometry was developed for the analysis of salicin,a characteristic component of poplar tree gum in propolis.With the exact parent ion and fragment ion， whether the propolis contains poplar tree gum could be confirmed.The samples were extracted with ethyl alcohol.The LC separation was performed on a Waters xselect HSS T3（3.0 mm×100 mm，3.5 μm） column with acetonitrile-0.1% acetic acid solution as mobile phase.The analyte was detected under positive mode.The calibration curve showed a good linearity within the concentration range of 0.5-25.0 μg/mL.The average recoveries of salicin ranged from 81.6% to 91.0% at the spiked levels of 25.0，150.0，300.0 mg/kg with relative standard deviations（RSDs） less than 11.6%.The developed method was simple，sensitive and repeatable，and could be used as a screen and confirmatory approach for the analysis of salicin in propolis.