Mandrakes are plants with aphrodisiac qualities (see Genesis 30:14–16) which grow in this place of lovemaking. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for mandrake, dudaim, looks as though it is related to a common word for lover
(dod) in the Hebrew of the Song.1 The young woman is expressing the strength of desire the young lovers have for each other and their eagerness to satisfy those desires.
13 The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.