Jateorhiza calumba or J. palmata is a perennial climbing plant from East Africa. It contains Isoquinoline Alkaloids and is used mainly as a Bitter Tonic especially in cases of anorexia nervosa. It contains no tannins, hence it can be safely used in iron preparations for the treatment of anaemia without the fear of precipitation resulted from in vitro interaction. A new quaternary protoberberine alkaloid, bisjatrorrhizine, has been isolated from Jatrorrhiza palmata. A structural assignment based on the analysis of the n.m.r. spectra of the original alkaloid and its methylation products, and on the mass spectral fragmentation pattern of the hydrogenation products, was confirmed by a partial synthesis of the alkaloid by catalytic oxidative coupling of jatrorrhizine chloride. Menispermaceae, the botanical name for a family of flowering plants, has been universally recognized by taxonomists. Tubocurare, a neuromuscular blocker and active ingredient in curare, is derived from plants of this family.