My husband and I often walk past this bush while walking our dog around the neighborhood, and sometimes it has such a strong and distinctive smell — warm and dry, like spice or leather, ambery, like incense, but in a lighter, leafier way than true incense. I kept thinking, why does this remind me of labdanum? Then I looked up what plant labdanum comes from, and it comes from this plant! Rockrose. 

Labdanum is a sticky resin that exudes from the stems and leaves of rockrose bushes. When I touch the stems of this bush, they’re sticky, and my fingers come away smelling like labdanum resin mixed with 7-Up.

Traditionally, labdanum resin is often harvested by unleashing goats among rockrose bushes, then combing the resin out of their resulting sticky beards. It’s a black resin — see the picture below. Labdanum absolute is a common base note in perfumery, lending a rich resinous scent and longevity on the skin.