According to Dr Russell Barrett from the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, the first collection in an Australian herbarium was made by botanist Alexander Morrison, who collected the plant in Melbourne's Studley Park in October 1887 (after no doubt making the mistake of walking through there barefoot).

Native to South America, the plant was given its scientific name of 'Soliva sossilis' by Spanish botanists Hipolito Ruiz Lopez and José Antonio Pavon Jiménez in 1794, based on collections they made near Concepcion, Chile.

Now common throughout Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the Americas, Dr Barrett said it was difficult to determine exactly how the plant arrived down under, but believed it could have been accidentally introduced by a traveller arriving in Melbourne, or otherwise come directly from South America or somewhere else it had been previously introduced.

Another question that resists a definitive answer is when the plant came to be referred to as a bindi-eye, although contributor comments on Macquarie Dictionary's site indicate the term was in use in Sydney from at least the 1950s.

Other common names for the plant include bindii, bindi-i, joeys and jo-jos.

Vicious and widespread throughout the warmer months, MidCoast Council strategic weeds biosecurity officer Terry Inkson said the plant is particularly prevalent around the Manning-Great Lakes at the moment because of the dry conditions.

A highly drought-tolerant plant, it germinates best in bare conditions and thrives when the plants and grass around it are doing it tough.

For this reason, it provides a fairly accurate and possibly unwelcome reflection of how well someone looks after their lawn.

"Generally a lawn that is not healthy will have bindiis," Mr Inkson said.

He added that mowing your lawn too short would also promote the spread of the plant.

"You're destroying the thatch and thickness of the grass," he said.

"They call it scalping."

In terms of controlling bindi-eyes in your lawn, Mr Inkson had a simple message.

"It's too late if you're feeling them."

With the plant germinating in the cooler months, it's better to try to remove them then too, either by hand or by treating them with a chemical spray.

"Hand removal is a very good way to manage them in front and backyards," Mr Inkson said.

And if you can manage it, next time you step in some try not to brush the nasty little things back into the grass, as that's a surefire way to spread them further.

Take comfort instead in the knowledge you're a part of a long line of people all over the world who've felt exactly what you're feeling.

Great Lakes Advocate