The present investigation aimed to determine whether the bulb chemistry of Urginea epigea was significantly distinct from that of U. altissima. Flowering bulbs of U. epigea R.A. Dyer (Hyacinthaceae) were harvested at the Paris Dam site near Vryheid, South Africa, dried, chopped and extracted with dichloromethane for 48 h, and the extract was separated using column chromatography over silica gel. The dichloromethane extract yielded the eudesmane sesquiterpenoids 1b,6a-dihydroxy-4(15)-eudesmene (known) and 6a-hydroxy-4(15)-eudesmen-1-one (novel). This is the first record of sesquiterpenoids in the Hyacinthaceae. The presence of sesquiterpenes in U. epigea but not U. altissima (which has repeatedly yielded only bufadienolides) further substantiates its specific recognition by Dyer (1947).