A novel water-soluble colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe was synthesized and applied to imaging palladium species under physiological conditions in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing less than 1% organic cosolvent without adding any additional reagents. Based on palladium triggered terminal propargyl ethers cleavage reaction, the probe exhibited a high selectivity and sensitivity for palladium species of all the typical oxidation states (0, +2, +4), with a low detection limit (25 nM, 2.7 mu g/L) and an obvious color change. Furthermore, the probe was successfully used for ratiometric fluorescence imaging of palladium in living cells.