abstract essential oil composition of helichrysum arenarium (l.) moench. of natural populations from eastern lithuania has been studied. samples of leaves and inflorescences of different colors [yellow and orange (f. aurantiacum (pers.) bleck.)] were collected from the same growing localities at flowering stage. the oils were prepared by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gc and gc/ms. the 68 constituents identified comprised 73.8-90.7% of the total oil content. it was found that the principal constituents were: -caryophyllene (in three inflorescence and one leaf oil), -cadinene (in two leaf oils), octadecane (in one leaf oil) and heneicosane (in one inflorescence sample). monoterpenes and oxygenated monoterpenes made up 4.0-13.9%, aliphatic hydrocarbons 0.4-35.3%, and sesquiterpenes 24.7-71.2% of the oils.