Chaparral
a dense growth of shrubs or small trees.
noun
(in the southwestern US) a dense growth of shrubs and trees, esp evergreen oaks
n.
“shrub thicket,” 1850, American English, from Spanish chaparro “evergreen oak,” perhaps from Basque txapar “little thicket,” diminutive of sapar “heath, thicket.”
In Spain, a chaparral is a bush of a species of oak. The termination al signifies a place abounding in; as, chaparral, a place of oak-bushes, almendral, an almond orchard; parral, a vineyard; cafetal, a coffee plantation, etc., etc.
This word, chaparral, has been introduced into the language since our acquisition of Texas and New Mexico, where these bushes abound. It is a series of thickets, of various sizes, from one hundred yards to a mile through, with bushes and briars, all covered with thorns, and so closely entwined together as almost to prevent the passage of any thing larger than a wolf or hare. [John Russell Bartlett, “Dictionary of Americanisms,” 1859]
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roadrunner.
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a lily, Lilium rubescens, of the western coast of the U.S., having pale lilac-colored flowers that turn rose-purple.
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a spiny bush, Pickeringia montana, of the legume family, having large purple flowers and sometimes forming dense thickets in the Pacific coast regions of the U.S. noun a thorny leguminous Californian shrub, Pickeringia montana, with reddish-purple showy flowers
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a flat pancakelike bread, usually of whole-wheat flour, baked on a griddle. noun (pl) -ti, -tis, -ties (in Indian cookery) a flat coarse unleavened bread resembling a pancake