Abstract: Swertia erythrosticta Maxim. (Gentianaceae) is a herb used for curing some diseases in Tibetan traditional medicine system. Eight xanthones were isolated from this species. Their structures were identified as 1,8-dihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyxanthone(Ⅰ), 1,5,8-trihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (Ⅱ), 1,3,8-trihydroxy-5-methoxyxanthone (Ⅲ), 1,7,8-trihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (Ⅳ), 1,3,5,8-tetrahydroxyxanthone (Ⅴ), 1,3,7,8-tetrahydroxyxanthone(Ⅵ), as well as 8-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-1, 5-dihydroxy-3 -metho xy xanthone(Ⅶ), 8-O-β-D-gl ucopyr anosyl- 1,3,5- trihydroxyxanthone(Ⅷ) by means of chemical methodes and spectral analyses.

Key words: Xanthone, Swertia erythrosticta