The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the fresh flowers and fruits ofPersea bombycina(King ex Hook. f.) Kost (previously calledMachilus bombycinaKing) were examined by a combination of high resolution GC and GC/MS. The flower oil contained more than 65 compounds of which the major constituents were found to be caryophyllene oxide (19.4%), (E)-nerolidol (14.5%), 11-dodecenal (11.2%) and 11-dodecenoic acid (9.8%). The composition of the fruit oil was entirely different. Among the more than 60 (mostly oxygenated) constituents, the furanoid forms of trans- (8.0%) and cis-linalool oxide (7.3%) were major components, but many compounds could not be identified.