Abstract The composition of the essential oil from leaves and twig wood of Ocotea austinii growing wild in Costa Rica was determined by capillary GC/FID and GC/MS. Seventy-six and seventy-seven compounds were identified in the leaf and twig wood oils corresponding to about 99.8% and 98.3% of the total amount of the oils, respectively. The leaf oil consists mainly of terpene hydrocarbons (87.5%) and oxygenated terpenes (11.8%). The major components of the leaf oil were β-pinene (33.2%), β-pinene (13.0%) and δ-cadinene (5.7%). The wood oil also consisted mainly of terpene hydrocarbons (67.4%) and oxygenated terpenes (29.9%). The major components of the wood oil were α-pinene (14.9%), β-pinene (8.2%), β-eudesmol (9.1%), α-eudesmol (8.8%) and viridiflorene (5.0%)