cachimilla

(cachanilla [kat∫aníja] < New Mexican Spanish cachana < Mexican Spanish cachane (Senecio cardiophillus, according to the DM))

   DARE: 1911. A shrub (Pluchea sericea) with straight, tough stalks. The stalks were used by Indians to make shafts for their arrows. According to the DARE, this plant ranges from western Texas to California and northern Mexico. The term cachanilla is referenced by Cobos as a plant with curative properties. He says the term derives from cachaña, which he defines similarly. Its root is said to counteract the ill effects of curses, hexes and other forms of witchcraft. In English, it is also known as arrow weed, arrow wood.

   Alternate forms: cachanilla, cachinilla.