abstract the oil constituents of four populations of cachrys trifida l. have been studied by gc and gc/ms. the main components of the flower oil were found to be -terpinene (32.4-38.8%), (e)--ocimene (27.3-36.8%), limonene (6.0-24.2%) and p-cymene (7.2-7.4%), whereas the major compounds from the fruit oil were -terpinene (28.3-37.3%), limonene (14.2-34.5%), p-cymene (14.1-24.5%), -pinene (3.8-11.3%) and (z)--ocimene (3.0-8.0%). the oil from the stems and leaves was characterized by a high amount of (e)--ocimene (61.0-70.7%), (z)--ocimene (20.4-51.5%) and -terpinene (3.8-8.5%). finally the root oil contained high amounts of terpinolene (61.8-70.7%), -terpinene (8.2-13.6%) and p-cymene (8.0-10.9%).