In an attempt to identify bioactive compounds from a Tibetan medicinal herb Halenia elliptica, four known compounds were isolated. The crystal structure of the title compound l-hydroxy-2,3,4,7-tetramethoxyxanthone was characterized by X-ray single-crystal structure analysis. The crystal belongs to monoclinic, space group P21/n with a=7.155(2), b =13.232(1), c=16.037(2) A, β=95.06(2)°, V=1512.4(5) A3, C17H16O7, Mr=332.30, Z=4, Dc =1.459 g/cm3, λ(MoKα)=0.71073 A, μ(MoKα)=1.15 cm-1 and F(000)=696. It exhibits a characteristic approximate plane structure consisting of 13 carbon atoms (C(1) to C(13)) and all of the seven oxygen atoms (O(1) to O(7)). An intra-hydrogen bond was formed between O(6) and O(5)-H(5).