Abstract The essential oils from aerial parts of Pectis apodocephala and Pectis oligocephala were analyzed by GC/MS. The oil obtained from P. apodocephala was characterized by the presence of Î±-pinene (11.4%), neral (34.2%) and geranial (44.5%), whereas the oil of P. oligocephala was characterized by p-cymene (70.9%) and thymol (24.4%) as the major constituents.