Sixty-four extracts issued from twenty-one plants used in the Malian traditional medicine - several of them as antiparasitic drugs - were assayed for their antileishmanial effects against both extracellular and intracellular forms of Leishmania major. Seven extracts from six different plants Sarcocephalus latifolius, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides, Entada africana, Bobgunnia madagascarensis, Pseudocedrela kotschyi and Psorosperinum guineense - were found to be significantly active against the intracellular form of the parasite. 4 (c) 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.