the leaf essential oils of three eugenia species, e. gacognei montrouz., e. horizontalis pancher ex brongn. & gris and e. noumeensis guillaumin, have been examined. eugenia gacognei was a variable species that contained significant amounts of aromatic ethers, with either 2-hydroxy-4,6-dimethoxy-3,5-dimethyl-acetophenone [1] (36.8% in one collection) or a mixture of 6-hydroxy-2,4-dimethoxy-3-methyl-acetophenone [2] (59.6%) and 2-hydroxy-4,6-dimethoxy-acetophenone [3] (12.7%) in a second collection being the principal components. the remainders of the oil were mixtures of mono- and sesquiterpenes. eugenia horizontalis gave a terpenoid oil in which the principal components were globulol (18.9%) and spathulenol (14.5%). eugenia noumeensis also gave a terpenoid oil, with monoterpenes predominating and the major components being 1,8-cineole (47.6%), -terpineol (10.9%) and -pinene (7.7%).