A new bisindole alkaloid, tetradehydrolongicaudatine Y, has been isolated from the stem bark of Strychnos usambarensis collected from the Ivory Coast. Elucidation of its structure is based mainly on spectroscopic studies and places it among the relatively small collection of zwitterionic indoloquinolizine alkaloids. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al rights reserved.