abstract teurium atratum (lamiaceae) is an endemic species growing in northeastern algeria, where it is used in a mint tea drink. the volatile compounds obtained by hydrodistillation of aerial parts of t. atratum were analyzed by gc and gc/ms. thirty compounds were characterized, representing 96.9% of the essential oil, with t-cadinol (45.8%), thymol (22.7%) and carvacrol (14.0%) as the main components.