Fruits of tetraploid (2n=44) and hexaploid (2n=66) specimensof Thapsia villosacollected at different locations have been investigated for their essential oil components. Analysis of the essential oils by means of GC and GC/MS has shown that their chemical composition is slightly affected by the chromosome number of die plants. Both tetra- and hexaploid specimens have limonene and methyl eugenol as main constituents. However, the amount of limonene is reduced in the hexaploid plants (14–26% vs 31–55% in the tetraploids) which are also characterized by discrete amounts of elemicin (trace-30.11%).