Pachysandra terminalis Sieb. and Zucc. is a member of the hitherto little-investigated family Buxaceae. The recent isolation from Buxus sempervirens L. ' of cyclobuxine was of special interest, and it is of considerable significance that 5 terminalis has now been found to contain 3,3,20a-diaminopregn-5-ene and pregnane derivatives. The occurrence of cyclobuxine and 3,204iaminopregnane derivatives in two genera of this plant family is a reflection of a metabolic pathway in higher plants like that of the well-established biogenetic route from lanostane derivatives to steroids. In addition, the Pachysandra alkaloids are the first pregnane-derived alkaloids to be found outside of the Apocynaceae. Thin-layer chromatograms of the total alkaloid mixture from P 2 terminalis* disclose about eleven Dragendorff-Btaining components. A comparison of the thin-layer chromatogram of the Pachysandra alkaloids with that of the total alkaloid mixture of Buxus sempervirens L. showed a similarity between these two members of the same plant *The authors are grateful to Drs. G. E. Ullyot and R. F. Raffauf of Smith, Kline and French Laboratories for bringing P. terminalis to their attention and for making it available for chem&%l study.