Abstract The essential oil of Tanacetum polycephalum Schultz Bip. (Compositae) collected from the suburb of Behshahr, north of Iran, in May 2001, was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by means of GC and GC/MS. Among the 19 components identified in this oil, Î±-thujone (26.1%), camphor (20.6%), borneol (15.8%), 1,8-cineole (13.2%) and Î²-thujone (5.8%) were found to be the major constituents.