A recent report suggested that barakol, a biologically active extract of the south-east Asian plant, Cassia siamea, has anxiolytic properties. The purpose of the present study was to replicate and extend these findings by examining the dose-response effects of barakol (0-20 mg/kg) in two pharmacologically validated tests of rat anxiety: the elevated plus-maze and the shock-probe burying tests. Although the purity of our sample of barakol was confirmed by chemical analysis, we found no evidence of its anxiolytic effects in either the plus-maze or shock-probe burying tests.