The flavonoid glycoside dactylin with the structure 5,7,3,4′- tetrahydroxy-3′-methoxyflavone-3-O-B-d-glucopyranoside was isolated from M. incana (Rahman and Khan 1962). The following phenolic compounds p-coumaric, caffeic, ferulic and sinapic acids and kaempferol and anthocyanin pigments were found in the flowers of healthy and virus-infected plants of Matthiola incana (Feenstra et al. 1963). In healthy red flowers larger amounts of cinnamic acids were present, bound to the acylated anthocyanins and other compounds and possibly also as free acids. When anthocyanin synthesis was blocked, the formation of cinnamic acids was also inhibited, except for small amounts of sinapic and ferulic acids. In anthocyanin-producing flowers of Matthiola incana, the presence of naringenin, naringenin 7-glucoside, dihydrokaempferol and dihydrokaempferol 7-glucoside was detected (Forkmann 1979). The four isolated compounds initiated anthocyanin synthesis after administration to acyanic flowers of genetically defined lines of Matthiola incana and Antirrhinum majus.