The structure of kaerophyllin [2], isolated from Bupleurum lanceolatum, has been confirmed by an X-ray crystallographic analysis. Accurate lHand 13C-nmr assignments have been made on the basis of COSY, long range homonuclear (long range COSY), heteronuclear (selective INEPT and FLOCK) scalar interactions, and nOe experiments. The absolute configuration of the lignan has been defined as a-(trans-3,4-dimethoxybenzylidene)^-j?-(3,4methylenedioxy benzy l)-y-butyrolactone.Among the numerous types of plant-derived lignans, those with the 2,3-diarylbutyrolactone skeleton (1] have potentially useful antitumor activity (1). Lignans of this kind are the precursors of the aryltetalin-type bioactive lignans. Podophyllotoxin, isolated from various species of Podophyllum, is an important starting material for the preparation of the clinically useful anticancer drugs etoposide and teniposide (2-4). A search for plants of the high altitude Himalayan glaciers was conducted with a view to discover new medicinal compounds. In this communication, we report accurate 1Hand 13C-nmr chemical shift assignments, X-ray crystal structure determination, and absolute configuration of the lignan, kaerophyllin (chaerophyllin) [2], isolated from Bupleurum lanceolatum (Umbelliferae) (5,6).