pasheco

English edit

Alternative forms edit

pashequa, pashequaw, passheco

Etymology edit

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 edit

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 edit

^ 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)

Anagrams edit

cheapos, epochas, poaches, shoepac

[1] 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)

[1]