abstract the volatile oil of artemisia dracunculus l. var. dracunculus grown in oregon was obtained by steam distillation and analyzed by gc/ms. the chemical composition of the oil was very different than the typical oil of tarragon (artemisia dracunculus l. var. sativa), with very little (0.1%) methyl chavicol detected. the main components found were terpinolene (25.4%) and (z)--ocimene (22.2%). perhaps the most interesting characteristic of the oil was the presence of two unusual and rarely occurring alkynes, 5-phenyl-1, 3-pentadiyne (11.7%) and 6-phenyl-2, 4-hexadiyne (also known as capillene) (4.8%)