The word was used by the Mapuche people to refer to the bunchgrass Vulpia octoflora.
It is currently known only to survive in serpentine bunchgrass communities and native prairies in two small areas of San Mateo County, including populations in Edgewood County Park and on San Francisco Water District lands at serpentine outcrops on the eastern slopes of Crystal Springs Reservoir, in the vicinity of State Route 92.