abstract the chemical compositions of the essential oils of tagetes patula leaf, capitula and total above ground herb collected from farrukhnagar (28^0n, 76^0e), haryana, india were subjected to analysis by gc and gc/ms. the major constituents of the oils were limonene (6.2-13.6%), (z)-(3-ocimene (0.3-8.3%), dihydrotagetone (4.5-8.1%), terpinolene (0-11.2%), p-cymen-8-ol (3.4-11.0%), piperitone (6.1-11.9%), piperitenone (2.7-8.1%), -caryophyllene (2.3-8.0%) and trans-sesquisabinene hydrate (2.0-12.5%). key word index: tagetes patula asteraceaeessential oil compositionlimonene(z)--ocimenedihydrotagetoneterpinolenep-cymen-8-olpiperitone trans-sesquisabinene hydrate