Abstract The volatile oil of Artemisia dracunculus L. var. dracunculus grown in Oregon was obtained by steam distillation and analyzed by GC/MS. The chemical composition of the oil was very different than the typical oil of tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L. var. sativa), with very little (0.1%) methyl chavicol detected. The main components found were terpinolene (25.4%) and (Z)-Î²-ocimene (22.2%). Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of the oil was the presence of two unusual and rarely occurring alkynes, 5-phenyl-1, 3-pentadiyne (11.7%) and 6-phenyl-2, 4-hexadiyne (also known as capillene) (4.8%)