Abstract The essential oil isolated by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Hydrocotyle umbellata L. (Apiaceae) yielded 0.025% of oil which was analyzed by capillary GC-FID and GC/MS. Twenty-one constituents were characterized making up 92.1% of the oil. The major compounds were germacrene D (26.0%), Î²-sesquiphellandrene (17.5%) and Î²-bisabolene (16.5%).