Four cyano-containing compounds, (1E,4,5,6)-4,5,6-trihydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1-ylideneacetonitrile (1), lithospermoside (2), 4-hydroxy-2--D-glucopyranosyl oxyphenylacetonitrile (3) and 4-[-D-apiofuranosyl-(16)- O--D-glucopyranosyl oxy]phenylacetonitrile (4), and a nitro-containing one, 4-[-D-xylopyranosyl-(16)-O--D- glucopyranosyloxy]-1-(2-nitroethyl)benzene (5), as well as eleven other types of compounds, were isolated from the roots of Semiaquilegia adoxoides. Their structures were elucidated mainly by spectroscopic methods. Among them, 1 and 4 are new isolated compounds. The cyano- and nitro-containing compounds are very rare in plants and their isolation from one traditional Chinese medicine is really interesting. Four cyano-containing compounds (1E, 4,5,6) -4,5,6-trihydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1-ylideneacetonitrile (1), lithospermoside (2), 4-hydroxy-2-D-glucopyranosyl oxyphenylacetonitrile (3) and 4 - [- D-apiofuranosyl- (16) -O-D-glucopyranosyl oxy] phenylacetonitrile - D-glucopyranosyloxy] -1- (2-nitroethyl) benzene (5), as well as eleven other types of compounds, were isolated from the roots of Semiaquilegia adoxoides. Their structures were elucidated mainly by spectroscopic methods. and 4 are new isolated compounds. The cyano- and nitro-containing compounds are very rare in plants and their isolation from one traditional Chinese medicine is really interesting.