AbstractThe chemical composition of essential oils from the flowering plants of fourTagetesspecies was examined by GC‐MS. Of the species examined onlyT. minutaL. was rich in β‐ocimene. The other major constituents of this species and ofT. tenuifoliaCav. were dihydrotagetone, tagetone, and (E)‐ocimenone. These two species only contained small amounts of (Z)‐ocimenone but, in contrast, the essential oil ofT. patulaL. contained equal amounts of (Z)‐and (E)‐ocimenone. The oil fromT. patulaalso contained limonene and β‐caryophyllene. The essential oil fromT. erectaL. differed largely from the other three species containing mainly limonene, β‐caryophyllene, and piperitone. In agar‐diffusion experiments the essential oil ofT. minutainhibited the multiplication of fungi, Gram‐positive and Gram‐