Chem. Pharm. Bull. 53(3) 339—341 (2005)

tural elucidation of eighteen new and sixteen known acyl glucoses having caffeoyl, coumaroyl and hexahydroxydiphenoyl groups from Balanophora japonica M. (Balanophoraceae) collected in Nagasaki Perfecture, Japan which was used as an antipyretic, an antitode and a hemostatic medicine in China. In a continuation of our studies on the chemical constituents of medicinal parasitic plants, we further isolated three ellagitannins named balanophotannins A—C (1—3) and four known lignan glycosides (4—7) from the fresh aboveground part and underground part of Balanophora japonica M. (Balanophoraceae), respectively. This paper deals with the structural elucidation of these compounds by means of NMR, MS techniques and chemical methods. The chemotaxonomic significance of the lignan glycosides in Balanophora japonica was also briefly discussed.