Abstract The water-distilled oil from the aerial parts of Peucedanum cervariifolium of Iranian origin was analyzed by a combination of GC and GC/MS. Twenty-eight components were identified, which approximately constituted 93.3% of the oil. The major constituents of the oil were α-guaiene (11.9%), γ-muurolene (7.4%), viridiflorene (10.9%), α- selinene (16.3%) and β-selinene (27.4%).