Abstract Distillation of the fresh flowering tops of wild-growing Solidago virgaurea L. collected from the Russian Altai at 290 m and 650 m yielded 0.22% and 0.07% pure light yellow oil, respectively. GC and GC/MS analyses of the oils revealed that the main components from 290 m were α-pinene (36.5%), myrcene (14.8%), β-caryophyllene (10.5%), germacrene D (8.2%), β-pinene (7.1%) and limonene+β-phellandrene (6.4%). The oil from the sample collected at 650 m had benzyl benzoate (57.0%), β-caryophyllene (6.3%), germacrene D (6.0%), α-pinene (4.4%) and α-humulene (4.0%) as major components, suggesting polymorphism or the existence of different chemoytpes. Using the disc diffusion method we tested the activity of the oil obtained from 290 m against five microbes of health and environmental importance. It showed complete inhibition or killed Aspergillus niger and Staphylococcus aureus, strong inhibition of Saccharomyces cervisiae, and low activity against Escherichia coli, but no effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa.