Abstract:A red cubic crystal was isolated from the root bark of Celastrus hookeri (Celastraceae) for the first time. It was indentified as celastrol by means of UV, IR, HRMS, 13CNMR and comparison with data of references. Quantified results showed that celastrol distributed mainly in the root epidermis. Contents of celastrol in the root bark and root epidermis were determined by TLC-scanning and HPLC. It was over 12% in the root epidermis and 1% in the root bark.