abstract the essential oils from pimenta pseudocaryophyllus leaves collected in two brazilian geographic localities at different flowering stages were analyzed by gc and gc/ms. a high oil yield (0.8%) was obtained in post-anthesis and pre-anthesis periods of specimens from bras'ilia. the majority constituents found at the bras'ilia sampling site were methyl eugenol (18.1%, post-anthesis; 4.1%, anthesis; 3.1%, pre-anthesis) and (e)-methyl isoeugenol (78.0%; 93.5%; 93.6%), while samples from s~ao goncalo do abaet'e revealed neral (21.4%, post-anthesis; 33.6%, pre-anthesis) and geranial (36.5% and 47.2% respectively) as principal constituents. the two specimens drastically differed in terms of the chemical composition of their essential oils.