The aqueous extracts of 24 herbs traditionally used as curing ischaemic heart disease in China were screened for their in vitro angiogenic activity and another 24 traditionally used as anti-tumour or anti-inflammatory remedies in China were screened for their in vitro anti-angiogenic activity. The activity of angiogenesis was determined by quantitation of vessels on chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane model and cell proliferation of cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells. Among the herbal extracts examined, the aqueous extracts of Epimedium sagittatum, Trichosanthes kirilowii and Dalbergia odorifera showed strong angiogenetic activity in both the chorioallantoic membrane and BAECs models, and the aqueous extracts of Berberis paraspecta, Catharanthus roseus, Coptis chinensis, Taxus chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Polygonum cuspidatum and Scrophularia ningpoensis elicited significant inhibition at a concentration of 1 g dry herb/ml.