Fresh aerial parts of A. biebersteinii were collected in May and June 2009 at different developmental stages (vegetative, floral budding, flowering and fruit set)from its natural habitat in the Dizin zone, northwest of Tehran, Iran (Latitude: 36° 4′ 52″N, Longitude: 51° 22′ 46″ E, Altitude: 2325-2425 m).

All oil samples from different plant parts and phenological stages were mostly made up of monoterpenoid compounds (88.6 - 99.6%), especially oxygenated ones (52.4 - 82.4%). The oil of the vegetative stage contained high amounts of limonene, 4a-alpha,7-alpha,7a-alpha-nepetalactone, p-cymene and 1,8-cineole. The major constituents in the flower budding stage oil were found to be limonene, 1,8-cineole and 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone. In the oil of the fruit set stage, gamma-terpinene, p-cymene and cis-chrysanthenyl acetate were the predominant constituents. On the other hand, the most important compounds from the stem oil were 4a-alpha,7-alpha,7a-alpha-nepetalactone, 1,8-cineole, 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone and camphor. 4aalpha-7alpha-7aalpha-nepetalactone, limonene, 1,8-cineole and cis-p-menth-2-en-1-ol were found in high concentration in the oil of leaves, whereas 4aalpha-7alpha-7aalpha-nepetalactone, 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone, limonene and p-cymene were present in large amounts in the oil of flowers.

The aerial parts of A. roxburghiana var. purpurascens were collected during the mature vegetative stage in September from different altitudes (Bhaldana, 850 m; Bhatwari, 1218 m; and Mussoorie, 2205 m) of Garhwal Himalayas.

The oil yield was lowest (0.2%) in the plants collected from the relatively higher altitude of Mussoorie; it was rich in borneol (21.2%) followed by linalyl acetate (7.4%) and alpha- humulene (6.7%). The oils from plants collected from the lower altitudes of Bhatwari and Bhaldana yielded higher percentage of oils (0.8-0.85%) which were dominated by beta-caryophyllene (16.3%, 18.4%) followed by alpha-thujone (12.0%) in the former and eugenol (16.2%) in the later.

Ten different plants of wormwood were collected in March 1997 from each one of the following four wild populations in the Spanish Pyrenees: Tallo de Aulet (prov. Huesca) and Pont de Suert, Sort and Farga de Moles (prov. Lleida). In three of the four populations studied, there was another chemotype, with 25-65% of cis-epoxyocimene and 15-50% of chrysanthenyl acetate. This chemotype, called chemotype B, was less frequent in the Pyrenees than the chemotype A, appearing only in 17% of the samples (two samples in TallO de Aulet and in Pont de Suert and three samples in Farga de Moles).

Two chemotypes were detected; a cis-epoxyocimene type (with more than 50% of this compound) which was predominant in all the populations, and a cis-epoxyocimene + chrysanthenyl acetate type (with 25-65% of cis-epoxyocimene and 15-50% of chrysanthenyl acetate). The distribution of these chemotypes had no relation with the altitude of the samples.

Populations of A. annua cultivar 'Jeevanraksha' and accession Suraksha were grown in the experimental field plot of the Institute at New Delhi. The seeds were sown in January 2004, seedlings transplanted in late February 2004 and aerial parts (flowers, leaves and stems from the upper 0.5 m of crop canopy) sampled in late October 2004.

Ninety-seven compounds comprising 91.3% of the total oil of 'Jeevanraksha' were identified. Forty-three monoterpenes (56.6%), 32 sesquiterpenes (31.1%), and 2 diterpenes (0.2%) comprised bulk of the oil (87.9%). The oil was devoid of artemisia ketone and contained camphor (13.5%), 1,8-cineole (9.4%), trans-sabinol (7.1%), p-mentha-1(7), 5-dien-2-ol (6.3%), myrcene (4.7%), germacrene D (4.4%), (E)-beta-farnesene (3.9%), beta-caryophyllene (3.7%), dihydroartemisinic lactone (3.0%) and p-cymene (2.0%) as the major constituents. Eighty-six compounds representing 93.3% of the composition were identified in the Suraksha oil. This oil contained artemisia ketone (47%), 1,8-cineole (8.4%), camphor (5.9%) and alpha-pinene (5.2%) as the major components.

Fresh plant samples of A. arborescens growing in Sicily were collected from five different sites: Petru (N 37° 59′ 46″, E 13° 38′ 53″, 69 m); Diga (N 37° 57′ 23″, E 13° 39′ 05″, 198 m), Felice (N 37° 56′ 44″, E 13° 36′ 38″, 484 m), Torto (N 37° 57′ 53″, E 13° 46′ 30″, 55 m) and Artese (N 37° 58′ 28″, E 13° 44′ 13″, 10 m) in January 2010.

Forty-three compounds, accounting for more than 92% of the oil, were identified. Monoterpene fraction with the exception of Petru population was higher than the sesquiterpene fraction. beta-Thujone (20.5-55.9%), chamazulene (15.2-49.4%), camphor (1.3-10.7%) and germacrene D (2.3-3.4%) were the main compounds.

The leaves of aerial parts were collected in Heshuo county of Xinjiang province in China in July 2003 (a vegetative stage), June 2003 (a budding stage); and August 2003 (a flowering stage), respectively.

Only 23 constituents were present at the budding stage, while 24 and 26 at the flowering and vegetative stages, respectively. p-Cymene and gamma-terpinene were not detected at the vegetative stage of the plant. During the budding stage, butyric, beta-caryophyllene, geranyl acetate and cis-jasmone could not be detected. Benzaldehyde was observed only at the vegetative stage. Variations were also observed in quantity. In all cases the analyzed oils were characterized by the high concentration of alpha-thujone, ranging in amount from 37.0% at the vegetative stage to 54.8% at the budding stage. The concentration of alpha-thujone at the flowering stage (49.0%) was lower than the budding stage, but higher than the vegetative stage. The concentration of cis-chrysanthenyl acetate varied between 23.5% and 7.2%, respectively, at the vegetative and budding stages. At the vegetative stage the concentration of 1,8-cineole was observed to be the lowest. It was highest at the budding stage, representing 10.4%, then decreased gradually to 8.8% at the flowering stage. The concentration of beta-thujone was relatively low at the vegetative stage, representing 8.6%, and then increased to 10.5% at the budding stage. When flowers appeared it was found to vary a little. Finally, the concentration of sabinyl acetate ranged from 10.2% (vegetative stage) to 6.5% (flowering stage).

Leaves from mature plants of Artemisia nilagirica var. septentrionalis, before flowering, were collected from different altitudes in Himachal Pradesh such as Shimla (2210 m), Mandi (1044 m) and Manali (2050 m) in June 2005.

The major constituents of the oil show variation with changes in altitude. At lower, middle and higher altitudes, the major constituents of the oil were caryophyllene oxide (28.6%), borneol (35.8%) and camphor (46.9%), respectively. The percentages of alpha-humulene and trans-beta-guaiene also increased, but the percentage of sabinene, trans-sabinene hydrate, 4-terpineol, caryophyllene oxide and humulene epoxide-II decreased with an increase in altitude. The characteristic compounds observed in the plants from lower altitudes were 2-hexene-1-ol, beta-thujone, thujanol, myrtenol and linalyl acetate, while the higher altitude plants were characterized by the presence of alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, limonene, linalool, gamma-gurijunene, germacrene-D and farnesol.

Aerial parts of endemic pichana were harvested in December 1996 at different localities of northern Patagonia. Origin: Planicie Banderita, Dept. Confluencia, Province of NeuquCn. Habitat: altitude, 327 m; average temperature in the station, 21.8 ℃; annual precipitation, 125 mm; sandy soils. Aerial parts (5 kg, 2 kg of dried material;humidity, 11%) from four well developed plants at the fullflowering stage (December, 1996). Sample 2 : Origin: RincBn de 10s; Sauces, Dept. of Pehuenclies, Province of Neuqukn. Habitat: altitude, 750 m; average temperature in the station, 20.9 ℃; annual precipitation, 147 mm; sandy and gritty salty soils. Aerial parts (5 kg, 1.85 kg of dried material, humidity, 10%), from two well developed plants at the full flowering stage, and after several days copious rains (December, 1996). Sample 3: Origin: Coronel GBmez, Dept. General Roca, Province of Rio Negro. Habitat: altitude, 242 m; average temperature in the station, 22.5 ℃; annual precipitation, 179 mm; sandy and stony soils. Aerial parts (4.5 kg, 1.3 kg of dried material, humidity, 9%), from 12 young plants at the beginning flowering stage (December, 1996).

Fifty-four components, representing approximately 84.6-97.4% of the oil samples, were identified. The samples consisted mainly of hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes. The major constituents were limonene (28.7-56.7%), 6R-7R-bisabolone (3.2-9.1%), sabinene (0.1-11.0%) and citronellal (2.4-5.2%). Significant differences among the content of the three samples could be the result of changes in the climatic conditions (sample 2: Rincon de los Sauces, Province of Neuquen, after strong rains) or by translocations in different parts of the plant (sample 3: Coronel Gomez, Province of Rio Negro, more leaves and less stems).

H. pectinutu is an odoriferous plant and occurs as a natural weed on the Fiji Islands and in West Africa as a winter hardy bush. In India, it grows as an erect perrennial shrub in Assam, Bengal and Madras regions. Tlie leaves are ovate and the leaf margins range from crenate to serrate. The flowers are pale purple to yellow in cymose clusters, arranged unilaterally. The nutlets are small, oblong and black.

The major compounds present in the Indian oil were sabinene (27.8%), beta-pinene (6.7%), limonene (4.03%), alpha-terpinolene (6.0%), caryopliyllcne (17.2%), alpha-bergamotene (4.1%) and a C20H32-diterpene (5.8%). Other major hydrocarbons present were gamma-terpinene (1.4%), alpha-humulene (1.1%), beta-selinene (1.0%) and gamma-elemene (2.7%). The oil is rather poor in oxygenated terpenoids, the only major oxygen compounds detected were terpinen-4-ol(3.1%), spathulenol(1.1%), an unidentified sesquiterpene alcohol (1.4%) and trans-alpha-bergamotot (2.5%). The total oxygenated compounds constituted about 11% of the oil.

The plant materials were collected for P1: 2900 m, Ait Akak, Oukaimden, Atlas Mts, Morocco, N. Achak, A. Romane and M. Mahroug, 3 trees, ns, 12/12/2003; P2, 2200 m, Plateau of Matat, Atlas Mts, N. Achak, A. Romane and M. Mahroug, 3 trees, ns, 18/03/2003; P3: 2000 m, Foret Islane, Oukaimden, Atlas Mts, N. Achak, A. Romane and M. Mahroug, 3 trees, ns,12/12/2003. A portion of the leaves from each of the three trees (per population) were air dried for 16 days at room temperature (ca. 22 &#8451) to produce the dried leaf samples.

The oil yields from fresh leaves showed on differences among geographical sources. Air dried leaves appeared to yield more oil at the highest elevation (1.03%, Ait Lkak, 2900 m) than lower sites (0.67%, Plateau of Matat, 2200 m; 0.57%, Foret Islane, 2000 m). The essential oils from each geographic site had very similar composition in fresh versus air dried leaves. The essential oils from provenance Ait Lkak and Plateau of Matat were very similar and characterized by a high sabinene content (21.2, 35.9%), in contrast to 10.% sabinene from the provenance Foret Islane. The oil from Foret Islane had a high delta-cadinene content with 12.7%, whereas Aik Akak and Plateau of Matat contained only 0.6 and 0.8%.

Peppermint plants were initiated from rhizome cuttings (10 cm long) supplied by Jahad Daneshgahi in March 2009. According to the method described by Farahani et al., (2009), seventy five peppermint samples were notified above were transferred into pots (25 cm head diameter × 20 cm height) filled with sandy loam soil (soil average amount of 5580 gr in each pot). This experiment was carried out using a randomized compllete block design with 3 replications. The factors studied included 5 levels of water deficit stress that were D1 (100% field capacity), D2 (85% field capacity), D3 (70% field capacity), D4 (60% field capacity) and D5 (45% field capacity), respectively. In order to determine the soil moisture rate of 100% field capacity, 24 h after irrigation we selected 5 field soil samples by sampling drill, then samples were weighed by electrical scale and placed under 105 ℃ in electrical oven for 48 h. Field soil samples were selected for determination of soil moisture rate daily, than determined 85% field capacity, 70% field capacity, 60% field capacity and 45% field capacity, respectively.

Results indicated that drought stress motivated a significant reduction in all of the growth parameters and essential oil yield and percent. The highest values of growth parameters and essential oil percent and yield were observed under 100% field capacity (control). Also, the highest values of Mentone and menthofuran were obtained under 100% field capacity (control) and the highest values of menthol were obtained under 70% field capacity by using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS).

Dry leaves of Menlba piperita L. 'Kliment-63' and 'Zefir' of 1997 crop were used.

The oil yield from 'Zefir' was 0.97% and that from 'Kliment-63' was 0.54%. The oil from 'Zefir' was found to be rich in menthol (46.2-50.2%) and menthyl acetate (16.8-22.5%). In the oil from 'Kliment-63,' the content of these components was lower, while the menthone content was higher (20.0-23.1%).

Mentha rotundifolia leaves were collected in the second week of November 2004 in two localities of Algeria (Rouina: altitude 250 m, Miliana: altitude 780 m) within the region of Ain-Defla located in northern Algeria.

Thirty-nine compounds were identified in leaf oil of sample 1 (Rouina, Algeria), the main one being cis-piperitone oxide. Thirty-nine compounds were identified in leaf oil of sample 2 (Miliana, Algeria). The main one being piperitenone oxide.

The aerial parts of M. biflora collected during November 1993 and June 1994 were used for the investigation.

The major constituents of the oil were neral (25.3-32.2%) and geranial (26.7-41.3%). The oil produced in the winter was found to contain higher amounts of oxygenated monoterpenes than the oil produced in the summer.

Seeds of Ocimum basilicum cv. keskenylevelu provided from Hungary, were used in this study. Potted seedlings of Ocimum basilicum were subjected to study the effect of different irrigation rigimes on the essential oil content and composition at experimental farm of college of agriculture, Tarbiat Modarres, University, located in Tehran. (1215 m above sea level, latitude 35° 43′ north, altitude 51° 8′ east). The seeds were sown in spring of 2001 in pots. The irrigation regimes to induce of water stress were: 100%, 85%, 70% and 55% of field capacity. This percentage of field capacity kept constant in the soil by daily weighting of pots. The soil was sandy-loam with 22.6% of field capacity. The harvest of whole plants was performed at the beginning of the flowering stage.

The essential oil content of herb increased from 1.12 to 1.26% as plant water deficit increased (till 70% of field capacity). The number of component of the oil of Ocimum basilicum increased as water stress increase. Amount of the main constituents of the oil such as linalool, methyl chavicol, 1,8-cineole and trans alpha-bergamotene significantly affected by water stress.

The study was conducted in North-Central Anatolia under semi arid conditions. Seeds of 18 basil landraces (O. basilicum L.) were collected from local farms and home gardens in Turkey. To examine essential oil composition of the basil landraces without environmental influences, the plants were grown under identical (same environmental and soil conditions) conditions. Seeds were sown on a medium (1:1:1 washed sand, horse manure and field soil) in greenhouse conditions on March 25, 2003. Seedlings were grown until the 3-5 leaf stage. The seedlings were transplanted into pilots in the Gaziosmanpasxa University Experimental Research Station on May 15, 2003. The plants were harvested at the full blooming stage and dried at 35 ℃ for essential oil isolation.

Variation of essential oils in the landraces was subjected to cluster analysis, and seven different chemotypes were identified. They were (1) linalool, (2) methyl cinnamate, (3) methyl cinnamate/linalool, (4) methyl eugenol, (5) citral, (6) methyl chavicol (estragol), and (7) methyl chavicol/citral. Methyl chavicol with high citral contents (methyl chavicol/citral) can be considered as a 'new chemotype' in the Turkish basils.

Seeds of Origanum majorana L. were collected from a wild population near the village of Vouni, Limassol district, Cyprus, in April 2000 (remaining seeds from 1999). The seeds were germinated and cultivated in the greenhouse under conditions of 24 ℃ day and 15 ℃ night temperature. Artificial light was supplied to complement daylight to a constant 14 h day length with 'full sunshine' (optimized assimilation programme). Plants of cultivated marjoram (Origanum majorana cv. 'Erfo', N.L.Chrestensen, Erfurt, Germany) were grown in parallel for comparison. The plants from the wild population were sampled at the stage of flower bud development in October, 2000. The plants of cv. 'Erfo' were not sampled and were not analyzed since they started to flower much earlier and, hence, could not be directly compared to the wild population.

Three chemotypes were detected in the population. Besides the standard 'marjoramy' composition ('sabinyl chemotype') with 74% of oil compounds belonging to the bicyclic compounds sabinene, trans- and cis-sabinene hydrate and cis-sabinene hydrate acetate ('sabinyl compounds'), two further chemotypes were present in the population, namely a pure alpha-terpineol chemotype (73% alpha-terpineol) and a mixed sabinyl/alpha-terpineol chemotype (41% sabinyl compounds, 40% alpha-terpineol). The chemotype frequencies found in this population were 56% of the plants belonging to the sabinyl chemotype, 4% to the pure alpha-terpineol chemotype and 40% to the mixed sabinyl/alpha-terpineol chemotype.

The leaves of R. eriocalyx were harvested at random from two localities of the forest in the North and South ranges of Boutaleb in Algeria at different altitudes during the full flowering stage. Sample N3(Locality: Northern slope; Altitude (m): 850; Collection date: Mar 20,1993); Sample S3(Locality: Southern slope; Altitude (m): 850; Collection date: Mar 20,1993).

Concerning the alcohols, the highest amount of 1,8-cineole (11.4%) coincided with a very low amount of terpinen-4-ol(1.0%) in sample N3 as well as with a generally low concentration of hydrocarbons (apart from camphene and pinene) in all samples of R. eriocalyx.

Samples of R. officinalis were collected in April 1998 during the full flowering period (Ro-1a), between June and July 1998 during the fruiting period (Ro-1b) and in December 1998 during the hibernation period (Ro-1c) from Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park (province of Jaen, Spain). The plant material consisted of ca. 10 twigs per plant (with blossoming tips or not, depending of the harvesting date) from 5-10 single plants. Ro-1a (Location: Las Chozuelas, Altitude (m): 1150, Harvesting date: April 21, 1998, Phenological stage: Flowering); Ro-1b (Location: Las Chozuelas, Altitude (m): 1150, Harvesting date: June 19, 1998, Phenological stage: Fruiting); Ro-1c (Location: Las Chozuelas, Altitude (m): 1150, Harvesting date: December 30, 1998, Phenological stage: Hibernation).

The highest oil yields (161.8%) were recorded during the fruiting period (summer). In general, minimum amounts of camphor and maximum amounts of alpha-pinene were observed in winter. The concentration of 1,8-cineole was almost constant throughout the year, though other oil constituent levels varied randomly with the plant life cycle

S. aucheri var. aucheri was collected in Karaman: Ermenek to Mutt Road on July 19,1995; Salvia aucheri var. canescens was collected in Karaman: Ermenek, Tekecati Valley on July 19,1995.

Eighty components were characterized in the Salvia aucheri var. aucheri oil, with camphor (21.1%), 1, 8-cineole (20.3%), borneol (7.8%), spathulenol (6.3%) and camphene (5.3%) as major constituents. 1, 8-Cineole (25.2%), camphor (17.9%), borneol (10.6%), alpha-pinene (5.4%) and camphene (5.3%) were identified as major constituents among the 88 components characterized in the oil of Salvia aucheri var. canescens.

Aerial parts were collected in Van and Erzurum in eastern Turkey. A) Van: Van to Ercis road 35th km on June 8, 2001 at an altitude of 1850 m. B) Erzurum: Campus area of Ataturk University on July 30, 2001 at an altitude of 1850 m.

Dried aerial parts of S. limbata collected from two localities in Turkey. Oils yielded similar compositions: 70-80% of the oil consisted of monoterpenes and 15-20% of sesquiterpenes. The Erzurum sample contained 3.7% of a diterpene identifi ed as 8,13-epoxy-15,16-dinor-labd-12-ene. Alpha-Pinene or 1,8-cineolerich Salvia oils are used as herbal tea in Turkey.

Satureja cuneifolia Ten. growing wild in Middle Anatolian provinces of Turkey were collected at various growth stages: a =from Konya, collected in June, before flowering; b = from Konya, collected in July, from flowering plants; c =from Konya, collected in August, full-bloom plants.

In the oils of S. cuneifolia, 38 compounds were identified, with thymol (43.6-65.5%), carvacrol (4.7-31.2%), gamma-terpinene (trace-13.7%) and p-cymene (trace-11.5%) being dominant.

The plant material was collected from different regions of Turkey. B = Canakkale: Gokceada, Ulukaya hill, August 1995; C = Canakkale: Gokceada, Doruktepe hill, August 1995; D = Canakkale: Gokceada, Kekliktepe hill, August 1995.

Carvacrol (52-56%) was found as the major component of these oils.

The material was collected from plants cultivated at the Experimental Farm at the Institute of Biotechnology (Caxias do Sul - Rio Grande do Sul State) from November 1998 to July 1999.

Thymol was found to be the most abundant constituent (31.5-52.4%), followed by p-cymene (17.1-34.4%). Thyme possessed a higher oil yield and the oil was richer in oxygenated compounds when harvested in the spring.

Plant materials were collected during the flowering period in July 2002 from the Dumluca Mountain in the vicinity of Divrigi village of Sivas city at 1900 m altitude and Saksagan Gorge in Saimbeyli village of Adana city at 1900 m altitude.

The flower, stem and root oils of T. cadmeum ssp. orientale collected from the Adana location were characterized with alpha-thujone (25%, 5.2%), cis-linalool oxide (6.8%, 12.8%), trans-chrysanthenyl acetate (5.8%, 8.5%) for flower and stem oils, and beta-eudesmol (10.3%, 6.2%, 13.8%); in addition, stem oil contained 1,8-cineole (6.6%) and root oil contained hexadecanoic acid (6.0%), spathulenol (5.8%) and beta-muurolol (5.3%). The flower and stem oils of T. cadmeum ssp. orientale collected from the Sivas location were characterized with camphor (25.9%, 14.8%), borneol (15.4%, 25.8%) and alpha-thujone (7.8%, 5.5%); in addition, stem oil contained 1,8-cineole (7.4%) and root oil contained nonacosane (16.2%), spathulenol (6.8%) and hexadecanoic acid (5.8%).

The aerial parts of samples from collective populations of T. carnosus were collected during the vegetative phase (February 2000), at the beginning of the flowering phase (May 2000) and during the flowering phase (July 2000) at Quinta do Lago (Algarve). AQLM: collected in May, beginning of flowering phase; AQLJ: collected in July, flowering stage; AQLF: collected in Feb, vegetative stage.

All the oil samples collected in Quinta do Lago (QL) were dominated by borneol (26-31%) and camphene (9-18%), but the third main component varied according to the harvesting period. Bornyl acetate was the third main component (9-13%) in the flower oil and in the aerial parts oils collected in May and July, whereas terpinen-4-ol (8%) was the third main component in oil collected in February from vegetative phase plant material. A fourth main component, alpha-pinene (4-9%), was also present in relative high amounts in the QL oils.

Aerial parts of T. fontanesii were collected during June 2004, in full blossom, in the Province of Tlemcen in four locations: Sidi-snoussi, Remchi, Sebdou et Sebaa-chiouki and again, during June 2005, in the last location.

The yield of oil obtained from the aerial parts of Thymus fontanesii harvested in the Province of Tlemcen (Algeria), calculated on dry material basis,varied slightly from station to station: Sebaa-chiouki = 5.20%, Sebdou = 5.25%, Sidisnoussi = 5.32%, Remchi = 5.46%. The composition of the four samples was quite similar, carvacrol (66.7-69.5%) being by far the main component. Other constituents, present at appreciable contents, were p-cymene (6.1-9.1%), gamma-terpinene (6.0-9.6%), linalool (3.0-4.0%), alpha-pinene (2.5-3.0%), myrcene (1.2-1.5%), and alpha-terpinene (1.1-1.4%). Conversely, thymol accounted only for 0.6-0.7% of the composition. Moreover, a sample harvested at Sebaa-chiouki, in June 2005, produced on oil with the same composition (68.3% of carvacrol). Obviously, aerial parts of T. fontanesii from the province of Tlemcen produced an oil whose composition differed substantially from that of the oil obtained from the same species harvested in Setif province and Constantine area (Algeria), dominated by thymol (67.8% and 68.2%, respectively).

Herbal parts were collected from A = Eskisehir: Suluagac village in Turkey, altitude 1100 m, in July 1990 and B = Corum: Osmancik, Berk village in Turkey, altitude 580-600 m, on 22 June 1993.

One chemotype (Suluagac village, Eskisehir, Turkey) contained carvacrol (21.59%), p-cymene (17.80%) and thymol (14.10%); and the other chemotype (Berk village, Corum, Turkey) contained alpha-terpinyl acetate (23.80%), borneol (12.85%), linalool (13.67%) and thymol (11.31%) as major constituents.

Plant materials were collected from the following localities in north western Turkey. A = Trabzon: Caykara, Soganli dag on July 28, 1994; B = Bayburt: Caykara, Mohakambo yaylasi on July 25, 1994; C = Trabzon: Koprubasi, Vizara yaylasi on July 20, 1994.

One hundred and four compounds were identified representing 97.5-99.5% of the total components detected in thymol/carvacrol (50.14/10.67%), thymol/linalool (23.14/20.24%) and linalool/alpha-terpinyl acetate/geraniol (21.55/16.70/11.17%) rich oils.

Aerial parts of the plant were collected from four localities: A = Kirklareli: Karadere in May 1991; B = Kirklareli: Karahamza Village in May 1990; C = Kirklareli: Evciler Village on 13 June 1993; D = Kirklareli: Korukoy on 25 May 1994

The four oils obtained from plants collected in different localities of the same region gave quite different compositions as follows: A: thymol (10.5%), 1,8-cineole (9.96%), p-cymene (9.48%), carvacrol (5.28%); B: beta-caryophyllene (29.50%), carvacrol(20.59%); C: thymol (34.7%), beta-caryophyllene (12.74%), carvacrol (5.24%); D: beta-caryophyllene (56.48%), germacrene D (11.12%), carvacrol (4.85%). Since the identities of the plant materials were checked repeatedly, any misidentification is ruled out. Except for A and C, all the other materials showed beta-caryophyllene as the major constituent. Carvacrol (20.59%) was present in good amount in the oil of B. In A, however, high percentages of 1,8-cineole (10%) and p-cymene (9.5%) were significant. This oil contained only a trace amount of beta-caryophyllene. Four isomeric caryophyllene alcohols were detected in the oil B. The results clearly indicate that the oil of T. striatus var. interruptus has no consistency and we can safely suggest that there are at least three chemotypes, namely thymol/1,8-cineole/p-cymene-type; thymol/beta-caryophyllene-type; and beta-caryophyllene-type, of this species.