At our Adirondack place every autumn, the prettiest colors we see during a walk are often provided not by maple trees but by native shrubs in the genus Viburnum. I love viburnums, of which there are many kinds. I also concede they might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Why? Because, at the end of the growing season, they stink.

When viburnums prepare their leaves for autumn shedding, they begin to give off a bad smell. It borders on fecal. On September and October days I’ve sniffed colored leaves still attached to the bushes that produced them and found the odor already wafting. Blindfold me and take me for a hike in autumn, and I’ll tell you where viburnums grow. It wouldn’t be hard. The nose knows.

I’ve led groups of elementary school children on walks in the fall and had them get the giggles around viburnums. One boy burst into a big smile and shouted, “Somebody farted!” All the kids ran down the trail. The reek was astonishing. I couldn’t blame them.

Even the wood of viburnums stinks. Once my friend and one-time boss Warren Balgooyen, a naturalist extraordinaire, cut a section of Viburnum wood and bark for an exhibit he was creating. It was a great idea, but that small piece of wood reeked so badly that our nature center building became uninhabitable. Our fabulous office manager, a woman named Maureen Thompson, finally laid down the law. The Viburnum sample had to go.

Why the stench? As far as I can tell, nobody knows. I wonder if it could have adaptive value, enticing mammals, ones inspired to poop by the smell of the feces of those who have gone before them, to drop off free fertilizer. Members of the dog family such as coyotes and foxes seem especially motivated in this direction. This is only a guess.

What follows are images of Adirondack viburnums in autumn. Know that if you were standing with me as I took the photos, you might have wrinkled your nose.

Wild-raisin (Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides)

Smooth arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum var. lucidum)

Highbush cranberry (Viburnum opulus var. americanum)

Maple-leaved viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)

Wild raisin (Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides) seeming to make a defiant hand gesture at winter as it approaches