Objective To investigate the effects of morroniside on angiogenesis-related factors and neurological function in rats 24 h after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. Methods Healthy adult male SD rats were induced to develop occlusion of the middle cerebral artery by suture embolus. Then, the rats were randomly divided into a sham group,a model group, a morroniside-low group, a morroniside-intermediate group, and a morroniside low,moderate,and high-dose groups (30, 90, and 270 mg/ kg, respectively). Morroniside was administered 24 h after surgery, once a day for 7 days.By determining the scores of neurological behavior, the cerebral infarction volume ratios, and the expression of cortical angiogenesis-related gene proteins, were investigated to explore the effects of morroniside on angiogenesis-related proteins and neurological function in rats at 24 h after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. Results Compared with those in the sham group, the scores of neurological behavior and the cerebral infarction volume ratios in the model group were significantly increased ( P <0. 001). After 7 days of morroniside administration, compared with that in the model group, the morroniside-high dose group exhibited a dramatic improvement of the neurological behavior scores ( P < 0. 01) and a significant reduction in the volume of cerebral infarction ( P <0. 05). Moreover, the expression of cortical angiogenesisrelated proteins CD34 and Ang-1 were significantly increased ( P <0. 05, P <0. 05) compared with those in the sham group.Compared with the model group, the expression of cortical angiogenesis-related proteins CD34 and Ang-1 in the group with high-dose morroniside was significantly increased ( P <0. 05, P <0. 01), and moderate-dose morroniside also promoted the expression of Ang-1 ( P <0. 05). Conclusions The time window for morroniside administration extends to 24 h after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. The morroniside administration at a high dose can reduce the neurological behavior scores and the cerebral infarction volume ratio, while increasing the expression of the angiogenesis-related proteins CD34 and Ang-1.