Abstract: Xanthium strumarium is a common Chinese medicine used for the treatment of “Bi Yuan”， it mainly contains water-soluble glycosides， sesquiterpene lactones， essential oils， fatty oils， phenolic acids and other compounds， its pharmacology contains hypoglycemic， antianaphylaxis， anti-microbial， anti-inflammatory， analgesia and anti-tumor. This article summarized the chemical composition and pharmacological effects of Xanthium strumarium in order to provide reference for later study.