In the course of this work phytochemical investigation of Merendera schimperirn(Colchicaceae) was conducted.rnThe genus Mefendera is distributed in South Europe, in Asia minor, . West Asia,rnNorth West Africa and North and North-East Africa. This genus is represented byrn15 species.rnM. schimperi (syn. M. abyssinica, M. /ongifo/ia, M. /ongispatha) is the onlyrnMerendera species found in Ethiopia.rnThe corm and corm cover of this plant afforded many compounds, out of whichrnstructures were proposed for seven compounds based on their 90 MHz 'H-NMR,rnIR, and LRMS spectra. These include, ~-sitosterol (31), erythrinasinate (32),rnstigmast-1 A-diene-3-one (33), stigmast-4-ene-3-one (34), colchicine (1), sucrosern(35), ethylmethylamine oxide (36).rnColchicine (1) was the most abundant tropolone alkaloid (ca. 1.7% of the dryrnweight of the corm cover) obtained from both the corm and corm cover of thernplant. The chloroform extract, in both cases, was rich in colchicine (1) asrncompared to the methanol extract.rn2-Demethylcolchicine (2) was synthesized from colchicine(1) by selectivelyrnde methylating the methoxyl group at position 2. This compound was then used as a reference sample to monitor its presence in the various extracts of M.rnschimperi. It was not detected in any of the extracts.rnThe non-polar fractions of the extracts of M. schimperi afforded erythrinasinatern(32). This compound has been isolated from a Merendera species for the firstrntime. It was, _however, obtained from different Erythrina species.rnThe sterols, ~-sitosterol (31), stigmast-1 ,4-diene-3-one (33) and stigmast-4-ene-3-rnone (34) were found in considerable quantities in both the chloroform al'ldrnmethanol extracts. The presence of these compounds in the extracts ofrnMerendera species has not been reported before.rnEthylmethylamine oxide (36) was obtained in small quantities from the methanolrnextract of the corm. The presence of this compound in Merendera is reportedrnhere for the first time.rnIn view of the important place of colchicine in modern medicine, it may bernpossible to propagate a controlled use of M. schimperi among the ruralrncommunity as a substitute for modern and expensive drugs.