A Central American plant with stinging hairs, related to nettles, found in tropical regions of Guatemala and neighboring areas.
From Nahuatl or other Mesoamerican languages via Spanish; the -aste ending is characteristic of plant names from indigenous Mesoamerican languages.
Many dangerous plants come with names that literally describe their hazards—chichicaste's name itself may reference the stinging sensation, showing how plants got named by people learning to avoid them the hard way.
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