the composition of the essential oils of six individual plants of artemisia herba-alba asso, growing wild in six different locations from southern algeria, were investigated by capillary gas chromatography (gc) and gc/mass spectrometry (gc/ms) in combination with retention indices. accounting for 76.3-97.2% of the oils, 132 constituents were identified, predominantly -thujone (trace-47.1%), camphor (5.6-30.0%), chrysanthenone (trace-13.5%), -thujone (trace-9.2%), 1,8-cineole (4.1-11.4%), cis-jasmone (0.8-12.1%) and davanone (trace-34.0.%). regarding the - and -thujone toxicity and the extensive use of a. herba-alba as an aromatic and medicinal plant in folk medicine, we report here, with previous investigations, the thujone content of forty individual plants of a. herba-alba growing wild in sixteen different locations from the high table-lands, steppes and sahara desert of algeria. the available data indicate a high degree of variability in the percentage of the two constituents. large amounts were present in essential oils of ghardaia (88.9%), ain-sefra (59.0%), laghouat (57.7%) and sebdou (55.7%).