lomas means fog oases, areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 86 out of 100.
Why “lomas” is a great word
LOMAS — [Noun] A fog oasis, a fertile area of vegetation in the coastal deserts of Peru and northern Chile sustained primarily by moisture captured from seasonal fog. From Spanish lomas, plural of loma ("hillock, mound"). Unlike an oasis, which relies on a permanent subterranean source, or a meadow, which implies reliable, temperate rainfall, a lomas is a conditional ecology wedded to the sky's caprice. It is a tapestry of lichen and tillandsia materializing on a barren hillside, a sudden burst of wildflowers where last month there was only gravel, and a stark line where the mist's reach ends—a testament to life's precision in exploiting the most transient of agreements.
noun
- Fog oases, areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile