pasheco
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From one of the indigenous languages of western North America. Said by John Kirk Townsend to be from Shoshone passheco (“camas (bulb)”).[1] The term entered English through the writings of Lewis and Clark, who were introduced to the edible plant by the Nez Perce.
Noun
pasheco (plural not attested)
- A soft, dark cake made of baked camas and rockhair (the lichen Alectoria jubata var. fremontii, now Bryoria fremontii).
- A camas bulb or "root".
References
- ^ John Kirk Townsend, Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains, to the Columbia River, and a visit to the Sandwich Islands, Chili, &c. (1839)