Rare earth ions (REIs) are playing very important roles in modern industries. However, the huge amount of smelting water containing various types of REIs was difficult to separate, which often lead to difficulty in recovery of REIs and water pollution in environment. Selective adsorption was an effective route to recover the REIs in smelting water. Two adsorbents (SiO2-BT, SiO2-BWT) were prepared by grafting plant tannins (Bayberry tannin, Black wattle tannin) onto aminated silica. The as-prepared adsorbents have exhibited a high adsorption capacity to four typical REIs and high selectivity to La3+ among these four REIs (La3+, Ce3+, Pr3+, Nd3+). Furthermore, the after-used adsorbents can be easily regenerated by 0.1mol/L HNO3 solution indicating superior reusability.