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Colitas

Featured in the song "Hotel California" by The Eagles, Colitas have been repeatedly defined by Don Henley and Don Felder as "desert flowers", the Colita de Rata, or Wild Buckwheat.

A perennial up to one foot 30.5 cm tall, favoring dry rocky slopes, Wild buckwheat has a basal whorl of grayish spoon-shaped leaves. Creamy white flowers form in clusters on the stem.
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair. Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air.
by SonoftheSands April 21, 2009
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Colitas

Colitas: A type of sage (plant) indigenous to the desert southwest of North America. Other common names, Antelope Sage, James' buckwheat, horticultural name "Eriogonum jamesii". This is NOT a form of canaabus.
When warmed by the desert sun colitas releases a pleasant odor that is considered by locals to be uniquely American. The use of the name in the lyrics of Eagles song Hotel California is a reference to a feeling that is uniquely American and to a fatigue that is common to residents of the desert southwest.
by AnotherCharlie September 13, 2011
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Related Words

colitas

is a word used in the song "Hotel California". Its a Spanish word for "Little Tails" and that is in refernce to the buds of marijuana plant.
"...warm smell of colitas rising up through the air..."
by natetherebel January 3, 2008
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Covitastical

adj. An extraordinary event, idea, or experience that can only happen during a pandemic
Even in Covitastical times, we remember what it use to be like when it was normal (ie...pre-3/11).
by tobywillow May 22, 2020
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Colitas

According to Irving Azoff (Eagles management),

"During the writing of the song 'Hotel California,' by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, the word 'colitas' was improperly translated for them by their Mexican-American road manager as 'little buds.'

Colitas is little tails, but here the author could also be hinting at 'colas,' the tip of a marijuana branch, where it is more potent and with more sap — said to be the best part of the leaves."
On a dark desert highway cool wind in my hair. Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air.
by Ethan M April 20, 2007
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colitas

The Eagles are not saying 'colitas'. They are saying "Goleta's" - a town on the Southern California coast "The warm smell of Goleta's rising in the air".

Don't believe everything you read on lyrics websites.

per wikipedia: Goleta ( /ɡəˈliːtə/; Spanish: ɡoˈleta, "schooner") is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated, populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the Census-designated place (CDP) had a total population of 55,204, however, a significant portion of the census territory of 2000 did not incorporate into the new city. The population was 29,888 at the 2010 census.
It is known for being near the University of California, Santa Barbara campus, although the CDP of Isla Vista is closer.
The warm smell of Goleta's rising in the air. Not 'colitas'
by olderguy September 22, 2011
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colitas

made up word from the eagles, can mean either happiness or even contentness
I feel such colitas around me
by george September 24, 2004
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