Abstract The essential oil of Aeollanthus parvifolius Benth. was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Twenty six compounds, representing 87.0% of the oil, were identified. The oil was dominated by sesquiterpenes and the major components were α-muurolol (18.9%), β-eudesmol (9.5%), elemol (9.3%), α-eudesmol (7.0%), β-caryophyllene (5.4%) and γ-cadinene (5.3%).