Chamomile (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauch) is a highly valued medicinal and aromatic plant. In consideration of the demand from the pharmaceutical industry for this plant and with respect to the quality of Iranian wild growing chamomile, seeds of ‘Bodegold’ (tetraploid), ‘Germania’ (diploid), ‘Bona’ (diploid) and ‘Goral’ (tetraploid) cultivars were cultivated in spring 2004 at Mashhad climate. The research was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 4 replicates. During the flowering periods, growth indexes, including plant height, number of anthodia/plant, anthodia diameter, flower yield/plant, and the essential oil content, were measured. A significant difference between the plant height of ‘Goral’ and ‘Bodegold’ (85.5 cm and 77.2, respectively) and between ‘Germania’ and ‘Bona’ (74.2 cm and 70.4 cm, respectively) were observed. The largest anthodia diameter belonged to ‘Bodegold’ (22 mm) and the smallest to ‘Goral’ (19 mm). ‘Goral’ had the highest anthodia yield and ‘Bona’ had the lowest anthodia yield. The essential oil contents ranged from 0.68-0.82% (v/v) for ‘Bodegold’, 0.52-1.08% (v/v) for ‘Germania’, 0.53-1.02% (v/v) for ‘Bona’, and 0.63-0.95% for ‘Goral’.

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