Abstract The essential oil from fresh leaves of Acalypha plicata Müll‐Arg. was obtained by hydrodistillation, yielding 0.03%. 15,16‐Epoxylabda‐13(16),14‐dien‐8 α ‐ol (1) was the major constituent (20.9%) of the oil and its structure was established by NMR techniques. Twenty‐four additional compounds were identified by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). Bicyclogermacrene (8.5%), τ ‐muurolol (6.1%), β ‐caryophyllene (6.0%) and epi ‐bicyclosesquiphellandrene (5.5%) were other abundant constituents. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.