Two new alkaloids, aspastipuline (1) and 5-hydroxyaspastipuline (2) were isolated from Asparagus stipularis Forssk. roots. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques (1D and 2D NMR, HREIMS). The absolute structure of 2 was established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Aspastipuline exhibited a moderate antiproliferative activity against the human mammary gland adenocarcinoma cell line MCF-7. (C) 2015 Phytochemical Society of Europe. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.