lechuguilla

[ lech-uh-gee-uh; Spanish le-choo-gee-yah ]

noun

, plural lech·u·guil·las [lech-, uh, -, gee, -, uh, z, le-choo-, gee, -yahs].

1. a semidesert plant, Agave lecheguilla, of Mexico, having a basal rosette of sharply pointed leaves and a very tall flower spike, grown as an ornamental.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lechuguilla¹

1835–45, Americanism; < Spanish, diminutive of lechuga lettuce

Example Sentences

Scientists are still mapping Lechuguilla Cave, known to be at least 150 miles long, and they suspect it may extend outside the protection zone.

From National Geographic

Krakauer regaled with a scientific trio’s exploration of Lechuguilla Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico - reading about the long, roped descent into the cave’s dark maw, its miles of narrow passageways and the objects of study, rock-eating microbes.

From Washington Times

In 1991, the caving expert Emily Davis Mobley was exploring Lechuguilla Cave, in Carlsbad, N.M., when a falling 80-pound rock broke her leg.

From New York Times

Another group led by Hazel Barton, a microbiologist at the University of Akron, discovered microorganisms harboring antibiotic-resistance genes in the Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico.

From New York Times

The shadeless limestone hills were stippled with vegetation — the shin daggers of lechuguilla, the star-burst of sotol, the lavender fuzz of plume tiquilia, ceramic-leafed tidestromia — spaced uniformly to make the most of what little moisture existed.

From Washington Post