abstract the essential oil composition from the aerial parts of eryngium paludosum (moore et betche) p.w.michael, an endemic species from eastern australia, has been analyzed by gc and gc/ms. thirty six compounds have been identified representing more than 90% of the total oil. the main constituents of the oil were found to be -terpinene (12.9%) and -bisabolene (12.2%). other representative compounds of the oil were identified as germacrene d (7.6%), myrcene (7.3%), -caryophyllene (7.0%), limonene (6.0%) and -humulene (5.1%). the sesquiterpene fraction (56.9%) was predominant in the oil of this species; most of these were hydrocarbons (52.9%). this is the first published study outlining the chemical composition of this australian species.