The present study was carried out to investigate the skin irritation potential of lemon grass essential oil in rabbits. A volume of 0.5 ml of test article was applied to intact and abraded skins, respectively, for 24 h in 6 healthy male New Zealand White rabbits. Parameters measured during 72 h observation period were mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes, and local irritation. All rabbits showed severe edema at both 24 h and 72 h after the application of test article. These animals also showed very slight to severe erythema and/or slight eschar formation at both 24 h and 72 h. The edema and erythema induced by lemon grass essential oil were recovered on day 7 of additional 11-day recovery period, but the eschar formation was not recovered at the end of recovery period. On the other hands, there were no treatment-related adverse effects on clinical sign, body weight and gross finding in rabbits. Based on these results, it was concluded that a single dermal application of the undiluted lemon grass essential oil caused very slight to severe edema, erythema and eschar formation in rabbits and showed a primary irritation index score of 5.63 indicating severe irritation. The results of this study strongly suggest that lemon grass essential oil should be used with care and in highly diluted forms especially when directly applied to the skin.