Imagine you find yourself walking through a forest during the fall, collecting conkers and admiring the crunchy, vividly colored leaves , when the scent of delicious baked goods hits you. You search far and low for the source, only for no bakery to be found. Where is the smell coming from? It may well be the trees. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

At least, if there are some katsura around. That’s the popular name for Cercidiphyllum , a group of trees consisting of two species – C. japonicum and C. magnificum – whose leaves both produce a mouthwatering aroma come the fall months. The sugary sweet scent has been compared to caramel, cotton candy, gingerbread, or Madeira cake – hence why it’s often referred to as

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