‖ oca
(ˈəʊkə)
Also 9 occa. Also oka.
[Sp. oca, a. Peruvian occa: cf. Gon{cced}alez Vocab. 1608, 262 ‘Occa, cierta rayz llamada assi’.]
A name of two South American species of Oxalis, O. crenata and O. tuberosa, cultivated for their tubers, which resemble potatoes; the former also for its acid leaf-stalks.
| 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xviii. 261 The Papas and Ocas be the chiefe for nourishment and substance. 1688 Sir P. Rycaut tr. Garcilasso's Peru viii. xii, There is another sort which they [Peruvians] call Oca, of a very pleasant taste; it is long, and thick as a man's little finger. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) I. 283. 1842 Prichard Nat. Hist. Man 431 In the hot plains, they planted maize, and the occa, or oxalis. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 113 Rows of Indian girls..were sitting in the plaza before their little heaps of chuñus, ocas, potatoes, and other provisions. 1885 W. Miller tr. Vilmorin-Andrieux's Veget. Garden 355 The Oka-plant is easily propagated from the tubers. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. May 471/3 The oka plant.., a native of Peru,..produces tubers which can be used as vegetables. 1966 New Scientist 9 June 643/1 Quinoa, papalisa, oka and isaño are plants [in Bolivia] which produce crops with higher nutritive value and protein content than wheat, maize and rice. 1972 Y. Lovelock Vegetable Bk. 221 The young leaves and flowers of the Spanish-American oca..are used in soups and as a pot-herb, and the flowers serve as a kind of vinegar substitute in salads. It is cultivated, however, for the sake of its egg-sized tubers, which are an important staple in Mexico and the Andean states. |