In order to know the meaning of the term litter, it is necessary, first of all, to discover its etymological origin. In this case, we can establish that it derives from Latin, specifically from the word “folium”, which is synonymous with “leaf”.
The notion of leaf litter is used to refer to the group that is formed with dry leaves that fall from trees . During the fall, leaf litter often covers the ground.
For several reasons, leaf litter can be dangerous. If it accumulates on the sidewalk, in a patio or similar surface, it makes the ground slippery and thus increases the risk of accidents. Leaf litter, on the other hand, can fuel forest fires .
In a garden , leaf litter promotes rotting of grass and perennial plants, either due to the appearance of microorganisms when they retain moisture or by blocking the passage of sunlight.
Dried leaves, however, can also be useful. With leaf litter it is possible to obtain humus that contributes to the growth of plants .
The concept, on the other hand, is used to refer to the excessive and useless foliage of certain trees. By extension, what is irrelevant, inconsequential or trivial is mentioned as litter. For example : “It is important to listen to politicians' speeches beyond the rubbish, since there may be interesting information there” , “The lecture bored me, it was pure rubbish” , “The talk was not attractive: too much rubbish” .
“The leaf litter,” on the other hand, is the title of a novel by the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez . In this work, which was presented in 1955 , Macondo is mentioned for the first time.
In “La Hojarasca” , García Márquez narrates the experiences of three generations of the same family group, united after the death of a man linked to the patriarch of the family .
Likewise, we cannot ignore that this novel serves to learn about the founding of the coastal city of Macondo at the end of the 19th century as well as the moments of maximum splendor and decadence that it has experienced since then.
Some curious facts about this work are that when it was published it did not manage to gather many sales, in fact, it passed, as they say, "without pain or glory" through the market. However, that changed significantly thanks to the boom that Gabriel García Márquez achieved with the novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” because in this one the setting was also Macondo.
Death, war, loneliness, family and dreams can be established as the main themes that take center stage in this novel.
Other books that have the word in question in their titles are these:
-“Murmullo de Hojarasca”, a novel published in 2012 by the author José Luis Correa.
-“Andrea Hojarasca”, which was released in 2013. Álex López is the person behind this work, which is part of the comic genre, and which takes as its protagonist a heroine who gives it its name. It is a half-human, half-vegetable figure who will embark on a journey to try to find the whereabouts of his only friend.