"茂密的、低矮的灌木叢，" 始於1850年的美國英語，來自西班牙語 chaparro "常青橡樹"，也許源自巴斯克語 txapar "小灌木叢"，其源自 sapar "荒野、叢林"的小詞。
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]
在西班牙， chaparral 是某一物種橡樹的灌木。詞尾 al 表示 a place abounding in ; 例如， chaparral，橡樹叢地， almendral，杏園， parral，葡萄園， cafetal，咖啡園等等。
這個詞， chaparral，自我們收購了德克薩斯州和新墨西哥州，並在這些州狂生的灌木叢被引入了語言。它是一系列大小不一、長度從一百碼到一英里不等的灌木叢，其中都長滿了帶刺的灌木和荊棘，它們糾纏在一起，幾乎阻止任何比狼或野兔更大的東西通過。[約翰·拉塞爾·巴特萊特，“美國習語詞典”，1859年]
