The monomeric composition of the suberins from 16 species of higher plants was determined by chromatographic methods following depolymerization of the isolated extractive-free cork layers with sodium methoxide-methanol. 1-Alkanols (mainly C 18 C 28 ), alkanoic (mainly C 16 C 30 ), α,ω-alkanedioic (mainly C 16 C24), ω-hydroxyalkanoic (mainly C 16 C 21 ), dihydroxyhexadecanoic (mainly 10,16-dihydroxy- and 16-dihydroxyhexadecanoic), monohydroxyepoxyalkanoic (9,10-epoxy-18-hydroxyoctadecanoic), trihydroxyalkanoic (9,10, 18-trihydroxyoctadecanoic), epoxyalkanedioic (9,10-epoxyoctadecane-1,18-dioic) and dihydroxyalkanedioic (9,10-dihydroxyoctadecane-1 18-dioic) acids were detected in all species. The suberins differed from one another mainly in the relative proportions of these monomer classes and in the homologue content of their 1-alkanol, alkanoic, α,ω-alkanedioic and ω-hydroxyalkanoic acid fractions. C 18 epoxy and vic-diol monomers were major components (32–59%) of half of the suberins examined ( Quercus robur , Q. ilex , Q. suber , Fagus sylvatica , Castanea sativa , Betula pendula , Acer griseum , Fraxinus excelsior ) where as ω-hydroxyalkanoic and α,ω-alkanedioic acids predominated in those that contained smaller quantities of such polar C 18 monomers ( Acer pseudoplatanus , Ribes nigrum , Euonymus alatus , Populus tremula , Solanum tuberosum , Sambucus nigra , Laburnum anagyroides , Cupressus leylandii ). All species, however, contained substantial amounts (14–55 %) of ω-hydroxyalkanoic acids, the most common homologues being 18:1 (9) and 22: 0. The dominant α,ω-alkanedioic acid homologues were 16: 0 and 18: 1 (9) whereas 22: 0, 24: 0 and 26: 0, and 20: 0, 22: 0 and 24: 0 were usually the principal homologues in the 1-alkanol and alkanoic acid fractions, respectively. The most diagnostic feature of the suberins examined was the presence of monomers greater than C 18 in chain length; most of the C 16 and C 18 monomers identified in the suberins also occur in plant cutins emphasizing the close chemical similarity between the two anatomical groups of lipid biopolymer.