The essential oil isolated from aerial parts of Hyptis spicigera Lam., used for example in baths in northern Nigeria, was analysed by capillary GC. Forty‐three components of the oil were identified, among which many occurred in small quantities. The identity of the components was confirmed by GC–MS using an ion trap detector. The oil was characterized by a high content of β‐caryophyllene (68%) and the presence of C16 and C18 fatty acid methyl esters. The present paper describes the analysis of the essential oil of H. spicigera, family Lamiaceae, grown in Nigeria. Neither phytochemical nor pharmacological studies on the plant have been reported previously.

The essential oil from leaves and flowers of Ocimum canum Sims, growing wild in Rwanda, was investigated by LSC, GLC and GC-MS. All samples were characterized by a high content of linalool (60-90%). Neither camphor nor citral and methyl cinnamate, compounds reported to be characteristic for different types of O. canum, could be detected. All monoterpene hydrocarbons were present in minor amounts (less than 1.5%). The oil samples with the lowest linalool content consisted of relatively large amounts of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons such as bergamotene (about 10%) and beta-caryophyllene (about 5%). Oct-1-en-3-ol and 3-octanol were the only oxygen-containing components, besides linalool, that amounted to more than 1% in most of the oil samples.

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The essential oils isolated from twigs of Juniperus cedrus Webb & Berth. grown on Madeira were analysed by GC, GC-MS and 13 C-NMR. The oils consisted mainly of monoterpene hydrocarbons (53.1-87.8%), the main ones being˛-pinene (19.6-55.3%), limonene (17.3-32.7%) and -3-carene (5.5-15.7%). The sesquiterpenoid fraction (4.1-22.3%) was dominated by E-caryophyllene (1.6-7.4%), while sandaracopimaradiene (0.1-6.1%), isoabienol (0.5-1.3%) and trans-totarol (0.4-2.2%) were the main diterpenoids (2.2-11.9%). Oct-1-en-3-ol (1.0-2.2%) was the major constituent of the non-terpenic fraction (1.3-2.7%). The composition of our oil samples differed to some extent from that reported for J. cedrus oil grown on the Canary Islands.

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The needle essential oil of Norwegian mountain juniper, Juniperus communis L. var. saxatilis Pall., was investigated by headspace capillary gas chromatography. The average ratio of a-pinene: sabinene: limonene was generally 21 :45:5 (n = 25). However, at two rather cold and weatherbeaten habitats some shrubs were found with quite different ratios of these compounds, viz. 42:24:7 (n = 1) and 51: < 1:24 ( n = 5), and 82: c 1:4 ( n = 2) and 53:20:2 (n = 3), respectively.

The volatile oil distilled from terminal branches of Juniperus sabina, was found to contain 14 monoterpene hydrocarbons, 1 sesquiterpene hydrocarbon and 12 oxygenated monoterpenes. Comparison with the volatile fraction of a solvent extract revealed that the distillation method generated appreciable amounts of terpinen-4-01, aand Y-terpinene and terpinolene at the expense of sabinene and cis-and trans-sabinene hydrate. It is shown that these conversions are caused by the acidity of the distillation water. lntroduction Juniperus sabina L. (Cupressaceae) is an evergreen shrub occurring wild in the-' Pan V of the series "Comparison of isolation procedures for essential oils". Part IV, see ref. [12] 13, 255 (1957).

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