the phytochemical analysis of the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves of hibiscus surattensis l. (malvaceae) is being reported. the oil, analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (gc-fid) and gc-mass spectrometry (gc-ms), was dominated by monoterpenes (34.1%) and sesquiterpene compounds (41.2%). the major oil constituents were -caryophyllene (12.9%), menthol (10.6%), methyl salicylate (9.7%) and camphor (9.2%). there were significant amounts of germacrene d (5.5%), hexadecanoic acid (4.3%), -humulene (4.0%), 1, 8-cineole (3.0%) and menthone (3.0%). this is the first report on the volatile compounds of h. surattensis.