pasheco

English

Alternative forms

pashequa, pashequaw, passheco

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)

Anagrams

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]