Leonurine, one of the major active ingredients from Herba leonuri, has been considered as a good drug candidate.However, it is difficult to isolate and purify leonurine from natural resources due to the low content.In this paper, an optimized acidic ionic liquid-based ultrasonic-assisted extraction method has been successfully applied to the effective extraction of leonurine from Herba Leonuri.Three acidic ionic liquids including 1-H-3-methyl-imidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([HMIM][HSO4]), N,N,N-triethyl-2-sulfo-ethanaminium chloride ([TSEAM][Cl]) and 1-(3-sulfopropyl) pyridinium chloride([SPPD][Cl]) and a series of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquids differing in composition of alkyl chain and anion were evaluated for extraction efficiency.The results indicate that both the characteristics of anions and cations, especially the acidity have remarkable effects on the extraction efficiency.In addition, the AILUAE procedure was also optimized on some ultrasonic parameters, such as ultrasonic power, extraction time and solid-liquid ratio.