Definition of "chaparral"

It was quite dark when, after an arduous climb, the sheriff made his tortuous way through the chaparral to the point where Anthony Garland should be stationed.

1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter IV, in The Understanding Heart

Have you ever been south of Monterey? / Barrancas carve the coastline / And the chaparral flows to the sea / 'Neath waves of golden sunshine

1973, Al Jardine (lyrics and music), “California Saga (California)”, in Holland, performed by The Beach Boys

“Look at all the chaparral on California’s coast — it’s all about surviving that kind of fire cycle.”

2021 February 10, Grayson Haver Currin, quoting Chuck Johnson, “Chuck Johnson’s Ode to What’s Been Lost in California’s Fires”, in The New York Times‎