The essential oils of Astrodaucus orientalis (L.) Drude leaves and seeds growing wild in Iran were examined by GC and GC-MS. The composition of the seed oil sample was compared with that of the leaf oil. Twenty-six compounds were identified in both the leaf and the seed oil. Although the composition of the seed oil was similar to that of the leaf oil, quantitative differences in concentration of some constituents were observed. The major components of the leaf oil were fenchyl acetate (44.5%) and alpha-pinene (21.6%) but the major constituents of the seed oil were myrcene (47.7%) and beta-pinene (21.8%). The seed oil was found to contain lower amounts of bornyl acetate, germacrene D and delta-cadinene than the leaf oil. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.