Volatile components were extracted from leaves of two Boxthorn (Lycium chinense M.) cultivars by using simultaneous distillation and extraction, analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Seventy components were identified : 13 acids, 15 alcohols, 18 hydrocarbons, 13 carbonyls, three esters, three ionones, and five others. The principal volatile components (and their peak area percentage) were n-pentanol (11.2~30.2%), phytol (14.5~28.3%), hexadecanoic acid (13.5~17.1%) 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (1.5~4.2%), benzyl alcohol (1.9-4.8%), phenylacetaldehyde (1.8~3.2%), and octadecadienoic acid (1.7~10.7%). Fresh leaves showed much higher peak area than that of dried leaf in n-pentanol, n-hexanol, cis-2-penten-l-ol, cis-3-hexen-l-ol, benzyl alcohol, and β -phenylethyl alcohol, while dried leaves showed much higher content than that of fresh leaves in 9-hydroxytheaspran A, octadecanoic acid and octadecadienic acid.