[This can be compared] to a princess confined in sickness because of her love for her husband. When her husband left she fell to her bed, crying out and saying "Support me with cakes,ashishot)". So too, she [the Shechina] is confined in sickness, and says (Song of Songs 2:5) "Refresh me..." With what? "...with apples," which flourish in the trees of the forest - and these are the fragrant plants.
The third elder rose and said: Rabbi! Rabbi! Behold, we do the Havdalah ceremony with [all sorts of] fragrant plants, even though she specifically spoke about apples. Rather, we use fragrant plants, of which it is said (Song of Songs 7:9) "Your breath is like the fragrance of apples." Moreover, all sorts of fragrant plants are fit for [these Havdalah] blessings. [In fact,] we use myrtle branches, because they have [sets of] three leaves, known as the 'three hadassim', which hint at the three forefathers. The two nostrils [smelling the fragrance], however, represent the two apples, the two true prophets, from whom the holy spirit - the faithful shepherd - is destined to issue. Thus it is written (Song of Songs 2:5) "Refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love."