espinillos de púas

11:17 Apr 12, 2012 

Espinillo is a descriptive Spanish name that is variously applied to many different bushes/small trees,something like 'thornbush/tree', but cinacina would appear to come from a Pre-Columbian language.

11:08 Apr 12, 2012 

Yes, the local names in various areas can be misleading, however, they are normally differentiated here, and I suspect it was the combination of both, aside from something in the language, that originally made me think the text was Argentinian. This does not mean that I can differentiate them, but my husband for example can, and he's a psychologist and not a biologist or botanist. That's why I think that for one of them the local name in italics could be used; both would be too much. The link I posted says that the cinacinas' thorns are not sharp (sin filo) so the writer's intention may have been to provide a sort of contrast: from fairly easy going (cinacina) to a bit difficult (espinillo) to pure hell (enriedo negro).

07:30 Apr 12, 2012 

and as I said in my answer, cina-cina/cinacina is not just any old thorny shrub but specifically Parkinsonia aculeata, called Parkinsonia or Jerusalem thorn in English and commonly known as "espinillo" in Spanish. It can be a small tree but is often a shrub. I have suggested that "los espinillos de púas largas" are these same shrubs. I could be wrong, of course, but perhaps it is a possibility worth considering. Personally I feel that "los espinillos de púas largas tienen forma de arbusto" is describing a specific plant, namely that specific plant.

If "cinecina" and "espinillo" are referring to the same plant, which seems very likely to me (since they are both common names for Parkinsonia), but you don't want to use actual plant names, perhaps you could call the cinecinas "thorny shrubs" and then put "bushes with long spines" or something like that. But given that a particular plant has been specified in Spanish, I feel that the same could be done in English without sounding unnatural.

07:09 Apr 12, 2012 

Something more generic like bramble or briar or thornbushes?

03:39 Apr 12, 2012 

...are apparently trees rather than shrubs (up to 8 metres)
http://www.viarural.com.ar/viarural.com.ar/agricultura/arbol...

Not your question, I know, but I happened to come across it.

02:31 Apr 12, 2012 

The trees in the 'monte' are all quite similar (thorny), as you must know. Even if the text is not technical, 'acacia' is a pretty common word. I haven't found anything similar for 'cinacina' but perhaps you could use the Spanish word in italics, also working in 'a thorny shrub' in some way. It is rather an attractive name, somehow, and would provide local colour.

01:55 Apr 12, 2012 

This is actually an Argentine artist describing his work in the countryside...it should not be technical. The previous sentences read "En el puño izquierdo, entonces, el machete. Con el derecho, aferro la piedra que llevo en el bolsillo. Avanzo despacio entre las cinacinas. Los espinillos de púas largas tienen forma de arbusto..." I translated cinacinas as "thorny shrubs" and, as I said above, would like to avoid technical names...maybe these are just ways of describing a similar sort of thorny plant life?

23:20 Apr 11, 2012 

I'm sure Wendy can tell us, but I have the feeling it's the SC, Argentina or Uruguay.

I'd also like to know what kind of text it is -descriptive, obviously- but is it the kind of book that just uses the local names or needs scientific names?

21:19 Apr 11, 2012 

.... part of the world are we talking about?