tuckahoe

Meaning

1. Any edible root of a plant of species Peltandra virginica, used by Native Americans of colonial-era Virginia.
2. A person, especially if poor and malnourished (or if implied to be), living east of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.
3. The sclerotium of wood-decay fungi of species Wolfiporia extensa, used by Native Americans and the Chinese as food and as a herbal medicine.
4. The flowering plant Orontium aquaticum.

Synonyms

Peltandra virginica

green arrow arum

licorice

pachyma cocos

Poria cocos Wolff

fuling Poris cocos

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtʌkəhəʊ/

Etymology

From Powhatan tockawhoughe. The "person" sense implies that such a person was so poor as to be reduced to eating the root.