The polymorphism of 1-adamantane-methanol C 11 H 18 O has been investigated by differential thermal analysis and single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. Below the melting temperature (389.5 ± 0.4 K), this compound exhibits an orthorhombic phase (Phase I, Pnnm, Z=12, Z'=1.5). The melting enthalpy was determined to be 20.5 ± 0.4 kJ mol −1 , i.e.,with an entropy change of (6.34 ± 0.13)R, which is much higher than the quoted value fromTimmermans for the melting orientationally disordered phases (2.5R), thus supporting the orientationelly ordered character of phase I. This orthorhombic phase I exhibits a statistical disorder of the hydrogen atom related to the oxygen atom, due to the position of one independent molecule on the mirror. At ca. 272 K, phase I transforms continuously through an order-disorder transition to a low-temperature monoclinic phase II (P2 1 /n, Z=12, Z'=3). The monoclinic and orthorhombic phases are related by a group-subgroup relationship, which perfectly agrees with the continuous character of the II to I transition. Moreover, by a convenient choice of an order parameter related to the continuous tilt of the c-axis, the critical exponent for this transition is found to be close to the theoretical prediction of 3D-Ising model (with a critical exponent is of ca. 0.27).