Abstract The essential oil of Microglossa pyrrhopappa var. pyrrhopappa (A. Rich) Agnew (Compositae) from Kenya has been studied for the first time. Analysis of the oil by GC and GC/MS reveals that the major compounds were Î²-caryophyllene (20.3%), Î³-gurjunene (11.5%), limonene (8.5%) and Î´-cadinene (6.1%).