“Can You Smell That Smell?”

1)   Clerodendrum trichotomum 
(Peanut-Butter Tree)

• Repugnant, peanut-butter odor when leaves are bruised!
• Cats are attracted to the smell.
• See our suckering forest of young trees along the path leading down to the WPA horticultural crew barn.

2)   Prostanthera cuneata      (Alpine Mint-Bush)

• This low-growing shrub is from Australia and is in the Mint family.
• When leaves are crushed, they emit a strong fragrance that some liken to eucalyptol and smelly socks.
• Located in the Australian exhibit of the Pacific Connections Garden.

3)   Ribes malvaceum var. viridifolium   ‘Ortega Beauty’      (Chapparal Current)

• Native to the coastal mountains of southern California.
• Malodorous skunky scent when leaves are rubbed like many plants in a chapparal community.
• Located in the Cascadian entry exhibit of the Pacific Connections Garden.

4)   Umbellularia californica      (Headache Tree)

• Large broadleaf evergreen tree.
• Most odoriferous tree in our plant collections by far.
• Take a deep whiff of the crushed leaves and you’ll know right away why it’s called the headache tree!

5)   Vitex agnus-castus      (Monk’s Pepper)

• Peppery-smelling leaves some folks compare to Cannabis.
• An ornamental summer-flowering shrub with many medicinal qualities.
• Located along Azalea Way at the SE entrance to the Woodland Garden.