Laboratory experiments on the flow of negatively buoyant two-dimensional plumes adjacent to a wall in a density-stratified environment are described. The flow passes through several stages, from an inertial jet to a buoyant plume, to a neutrally buoyant jet, and then a negatively buoyant plume when it overshoots its equilibrium density. This fluid then ‘springs back’ and eventually occupies an intermediate range of heights. The flow is primarily characterized by the initial value of the buoyancy number, B0 = Q0N3/g′02, where Q0 is the initial volume flux per unit width, g′0 is the initial buoyancy and N is the buoyancy frequency of the environment. Scaled with the initial equilibrium depth D of the in flowing fluid, the maximum depth of penetration increases with B0, as does the width of the initial down flow, which is observed to increase very slowly with distance downward. Observations are made of the profiles of flow into and away from the plume as a function of height. Various properties of the flow are compared with predictions from the ‘standard’ two-dimensional entraining plume model, and this shows generally consistent agreement, although there are differences in magnitudes and in details. This flow constrasts with flows down gentle slopes into stratified environments, where two-way exchange of fluid occurs.