Stem bark extracts of Indian Rosewood, a traditionally used Indian medicinal plant, were used as highly efficient multifunctional green chemicals/biogenic agents in the rapid synthesis of stable, monometallic Ag and Au nanoparticles and their corresponding bimetallic alloy nanoparticles with interesting shapes and morphological characteristics. We determined that the high efficiency of these extracts is due to the presence of complex multifunctional molecules, such as polyphenolics and hydroxyflavonoids, which are involved in the reduction of Au-III and Ag-I ions to zerovalent metallic nanoparticles and the stabilization of their corresponding nanoparticles. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.