Abstract The fruit volatiles of Lithraea ternifolia (Gillies) Barkley were isolated by hydrodistillation and analysed by capillary GC and GC/MS. Nine compounds were identified, representing 86.6% of the total volatiles with carvone (34.7%), limonene (21.6%) and linalool (12.1%) dominant. Among the sesquiterpenoids found, elemol and spathulenol were the most abundant.