Mashu is a common name used by some Indigenous peoples of North America for the starchy root (corm) of Claytonia lanceolata, a small wildflower also known as spring beauty or Indian potato. The plant grows in mountain meadows and moist woodlands across western North America, producing small, rounded underground corms.
The corms have been an important traditional food for Indigenous communities, eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. They have a mild, slightly sweet, starchy flavour sometimes compared to chestnuts or potatoes. Mashu is not commercially cultivated and remains a foraged food, gathered primarily by Indigenous communities maintaining traditional food practices.
How it's produced
Mashu is wild-harvested, not farmed. The small corms grow several centimetres underground and are dug up by hand using a digging stick or similar tool, typically in spring when the plant is in flower and easiest to locate. Harvesting is destructive to the individual plant, as the entire corm is removed.
Traditional harvesting practices often include selective gathering — leaving smaller corms and some plants unharvested to allow populations to regenerate. The activity has deep cultural significance for many Indigenous communities and is governed by traditional ecological knowledge about sustainable harvest levels and timing.
What it costs the planet (per kilo)
≈ Estimated from its category — typical for vegetables, not measured for this item yet. Sources & methods →
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