Abstract: The landslides induced by typhoons and rainstorms in Southern China are often shallow, fluidized and clustered. A large number of investigations have shown that vegetation infiltration has a significant impact on the formation of granite residual soil landslides. However, most of the current studies have focused on the effect of vegetation roots on soil infiltration. The influence mechanism of vegetation infiltration enhancement effect on shallow landslides has not been revealed. Therefore, the mass landslide disaster on September 9, 2019 in Longchuan County in Guangdong is taken as an example, and a large number of landslide site investigations are made to identify the geological environment conditions and vegetation development in the landslide area and analyze the infiltration effect of vegetation on shallow landslides. The “double-ring method” is used to measure infiltration rate of different vegetation types, and to analyze the infiltration process and infiltration law of different vegetation types. A typical landslide profile is selected to establish a geological model, and the Geo-Studio software is used to simulate the seepage law of shallow landslide and the stress-strain characteristics of the soil under heavy rainfall conditions (250 mm/d). Finally, combined with the simulation results and field investigations, the infiltration effects of vegetation and their response mechanisms to shallow landslides under heavy rainfall are analyzed. The results show that vegetation can effectively enhance the permeability of soil, and the order of permeability is coniferous forest land, shrub forest land and bare land. Under the influence of vegetation infiltration effect, rainwater infiltration to the bottom of the root-soil composite layer will cause water stagnation, the shallow soil tends to be saturated rapidly, the pore water pressure and seepage force in the soil increase instantaneously, the soil is saturated with water, the residual soil softens, and the weight of the slope increases, which eventually leads to the overall instability of the slope. The research results explain the formation mechanism of granite residual soil landslide in high vegetation covered area under heavy rainfall in Southern China, and provide scientific basis for early warning and prediction of such disasters, which are of great significance.