abstract the extracts from individual specimens of satureja thymbra l. and thymbra spicata l. were analyzed in detail by gc and gc/ms. this study confirms the existence of thymol- and carvacrol-containing chemotypes of both species, which have been found to grow in rather small and compositionally segregated populations. with the exception of the thymol/carvacrol ratio, the volatile constituent compositions ofboth species were found to be very similar. in addition to the biosynthetically interrelated thymol, carvacrol, -terpinene and p-cymene, the other major volatiles of both species were -caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, thymohydroquinone and thymoquinone.