An aromatic alkaloid-rich 'absolute' extract from Vepris gossweileri inhibited Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 62.5 mu g.mL(-1) and Bacillus subtilis at 500 mu g.mL(-1) (.) A loss of activity upon fractionation indicated possible synergistic effects. Three new acridones, gossweicridone A (3), B (4) and C (5) and known compounds from the extract were inactive. Combinations of compounds showed that a sub-fraction containing mixtures of minor compounds with (Epsilon)-caryophyllene augmented activity by 50-folds, with MIC values of 19.6 mu g.mL(-1) for S. cerevisiae and 375.0 mu g.mL(-1) for B. subtilis, demonstrating potent sigma FIC values of 0.02 and 0.375 respectively. From the active sub-fraction, three compounds were assigned as tecleanatalensine B, 13S-hydroxy-9Z,11E,15E-octadecatrienoic acid and normelicopine. In combination with (Epsilon)-caryophyllene they separately demonstrated MIC values of 18 mu g.mL(-1), 34 mu g.mL(-1) and 16 mu g.mL(-1) (,) respectively against S. cerevisiae. The synergistic combinations were more potent with addition of pheophytin A, suggesting that the synergistic antifungal effect of the extract is multi-layered.