The ‘Headache Tree’ Umbellularia Californica is a large evergreen shrub native to California and Oregon and was introduced by David Douglas in 1829. Many texts will tell you that this plant requires a warm sunny position in well-drained soil. However you can see our magnificent specimen growing on the north side of the garden’s visitor centre against the wall. The leaves are a bright green giving a cheery note to this area during the dullest of winter days.
This plant has yellowish green flowers borne on small umbels in April and on our plant you can see these flowers from top to bottom. The interesting thing about this plant is that the flowers and leaves if crushed give off a pungent aroma (not that unpleasant) which if you smell will give you a headache - the more you sniff the greater the headache. Why? It is related to the plant’s survival. The smell repels would be grazers or pollen thieves but not its pollinators. This is a simple defense mechanism the plant has developed.
The ‘old school’ of gardeners indulged in extravagant stories of the prostrate Dowager overcome by the powerful aroma. You will just have to come and study our plant and make up your own mind. www.dundee.ac.uk/botanic