With the isolation of reserpine from Rauwolfia serpentina there has been a renewed effort on the part of chemists and pharmacologists of the country towards investigating other vegetable drugs of the Ayurvedic, Unani and the Tibbi systems of medicine. This work has been largely sponsored by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.The need for a review of recent research papers on the subject is obvious. The present article is an attempt in this direction and is restricted to CNS active drugs. The plants covered in this review are :Acorus calamus, Cannabis indica, Celastrus paniculatus, Cissampelos pareria, Convolvolus pluricaulis, Daucus carota, Hsrpestis monniera, Paspalum scrobiculatum, Prangos pabularia, Rauwolfia cancens, Withania somnifera, Glycosmis penta-phylla, Leptadenia reticulata, Piper peepuloides and Sisli sebricum.