Quamashes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Perennial plants native to North America with star-shaped blue or purple flowers ; edible bulbs once a staple food for indigenous peoples
2. Flowering herbs from western North America bearing blue or violet blossoms ; the nutritious underground parts historically consumed by Native Americans
3. Wildflowers indigenous to parts of North America known for their striking blue to purple flowers ; bulbous roots traditionally gathered for sustenance by native groups

Etymology: Quamashes is simply the plural of quamash, the name for several blue-flowered plants whose bulbs were a staple food for many Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountain region. The singular came into English from Chinook Jargon, the trade language that developed along the Columbia River and spread widely among Indigenous peoples, settlers and traders in the region, where it was based on the word "qamaš". The plural follows ordinary English practice of adding "-es" to a word ending in "sh".

Synonyms: camas, wild onions, wild leeks, bulb plants, edible bulbs