Puhpowee translates as ‘the force which causes mushrooms to push up from the earth overnight’ from the Native American language of the Potawatomi people.
That’s according to biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer, as reported in the encyclopedic mushroom book Entangled Life. It is just another interesting little factoid in a book stuffed full of them.
As Kimmerer also recalls that she later learned that ‘puhpowee is used not only for mushrooms but also for certain other shafts that rise mysteriously in the night.’
May you have all the puhpowee you need, as a mushroom grower, of course!
