Ah, it's that special time of year when the forests smell of nail polish remover: a whiff of acetone in the air to out-do the scent of the Magnolias, providing a strange, semi-industrial complement to air heavy with the smoke from hazard reduction burns.

What creates this striking odour?

Why, one of the most commonly used native plants in urban landscaping, that strap-leafed clump of greys and greens, the Spiny-headed Mat-rush, also known as Lomandra, and by the botanically-minded as Lomandra longifolia.

One of many different Lomandra species, this one has a special place in my heart for its toughness, its importance as a creek bank stabiliser that helps to create suitable conditions for Platypus and ... yes ... for the scent of its flowers.

It's arguably the truffle of flowers; you smell it and find you are simultaneously attracted and repelled. You wrinkle your nostrils and pull your head back and to one side, then you dip back in for another whiff. Every time I smell it, I swear I have that exact same reaction, no matter how familiar I am with the scent. 

I did really intend to write about a tree this week, as it's been weeks since I featured one. But the lure of the Lomandra, plus the news that Kieran Tapsell is covering the beautiful Celery Wood as October's Tree of the Month, made me plump for this species. The flowers won't be around for that long, so go out and smell the Lomandras!

They are widespread in woodland and wet sclerophyll forest all around the region and, yes, they're used in landscaping from the University of Wollongong to Bunnings and Harvey Norman etc etc etc.

Lomandra may be one of the commonest local species in urban landscaping, but its scent is definitely quite uncommon. I can't think of any other plant that has a similar scent to the flowers. Is it a marketing point? Or something that the nurseries are keeping quiet? Who knows?