Abstract Two new phenolic glycosides were isolated from the ethanol extract of the roots of Inula cappa DC. Their structures were defined as 4-[(6-O-(E)-caffeoyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]vanillic acid (1) and 3-O-[β-D-apiofurarnosyl-(1-6)-β-D-glucopyranoxy]-6-hydroxy-p-cymene (2) on the basis of spectral analysis. Keywords: Inula cappa DC.compositaephenolic glycoside 4-[(6-O-(E)-caffeoyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]vanillic acid3-O-[β-D-apiofurarnosyl-(1-6)-β-D-glucopyranoxy]-6-hydroxy-p-cymene Acknowledgements This research work was supported by program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (PCSIRT), NCET Foundation, NSFC (C03050201), National 863 Program (2006AA02Z338) and in part by the Scientific Foundation of Shanghai China (07DZ19728, 06DZ19717, 06DZ19005).