Campuloclinium chlorolepis (Baker), an herbaceous species of the Cerrado, accumulates inulin-type fructans in the tuberous roots. Plants were collected in the Cerrado and the roots analysed using light and scanning electron microscopy. The presence of fructans was assessed by specific stain reactions and by high performance anion exchange chromatography. Here, we report the localisation of protein, phenols and neutral polysaccharides in the tuberous roots after staining with different dyes generally used in cytochemical analyses. Results showed the presence of fructans inside and outside cells from all tissues of tuberous roots with the exception of the epidermis. When visualised by scanning electron microscopy, globular bodies consistent with typical inulin spherocrystals were clearly detected under polarised light. These globular bodies varied in size according to location, being smaller in the cortical tissue and larger in the central cylinder. The localisation of fructans outside the cell in several tissues of the tuberous roots clearly shown by histochemical and ultrastructural analyses lead to the hypothesis of interaction of fructose polymers with cell membrane and possibly their role in membrane stabilisation in plants subjected to stressing environmental conditions.