How to Write 苁 (cōng) — Meaning “Cistanche (a type of herb)”

Imagine a group of people (从) walking through a desert, and they find grass (艹) growing — this is the medicinal herb Cistanche. The "two people" shape reminds you that 苁 always appears with 蓉 in the word 苁蓉.

The grass radical 艹 is written with a horizontal stroke followed by two vertical strokes. For the bottom 从, the left side's right stroke changes to a short dot to avoid clashing with the right side's long stroke. A common mistake is writing both sides as full 人 characters.

苁 has the grass radical 艹 plus 从 (two people), while 兹 has a different top (often two dots) and is used in words like 现在 (now). 艻 also has the grass radical but with 力 (strength) underneath, referring to a different plant. Only 苁 is used for the herb Cistanche.

苁 is almost never used alone; it always appears in the compound 苁蓉 (cōng róng), which means Cistanche, a desert herb used in traditional Chinese medicine. You will see it on herbal medicine labels or in TCM prescriptions, often as 肉苁蓉 (ròu cōng róng) or 苁蓉片 (slices).

Common words containing 苁 include: 苁蓉 (cōng róng) — Cistanche (desert-living cistanche); 肉苁蓉 (ròu cōng róng) — cistanche (a medicinal herb); 苁蓉片 (cōng róng piàn) — Cistanche slices.