To have an overall understanding about the physiological mechanisms of plants in their lead (Pb) absorption, transportation, accumulation, and detoxification is the prerequisite of the phytoremediation of Pb-polluted soil. This paper reviewed the research advances in the mechanisms of plant Pb-adaptation and recovery, including the functions of cell wall and vacuole in Pb-inactivation and sequestration in plant cells, the effects of plant root exudates on Pb bioavailability, the roles of antioxidative enzymes dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and of antioxidants phytochelatins (PCs) and glutathione in Pb detoxification, and the expression and function of metallothionein and Pb-specific genes. The further researches on the plant's Pb-tolerance and detoxification mechanisms as well as the technologies for phytoremediation of Pb-contaminated environments were prospected.