Abstract The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of the leaves of Eugenia argentea was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Thirty-five constituents comprising 98.5% of the oil were identified. The leaf oil was characterized by the abundance of three major classes of sesquiterpenoids, viz. caryophyllanes, cadinanes and germacranes. Î²-Caryophyllene (18.0%), Î´-cadinene (7.8%) and germacrene-D (7.1%) were the major constituents in the leaf oil. No monoterpenes were detected in the leaf oil