How to Write 蔸 (dōu) — Meaning “root and lower stem of a plant”

Imagine a plant (艹) with its roots wrapped in a little bag (兜) underground. The sound "dōu" also sounds like "dough," and you can picture the root base as a lump of dough. This visual helps link the shape and meaning together.

Start by writing the grass radical 艹 across the top with three strokes (horizontal, vertical, horizontal), keeping it narrow. The bottom part 兜 has nine strokes; pay attention not to confuse its inner '白' (white) shape with a simple 曰. A common mistake is adding an extra horizontal line in 兜, so follow the correct stroke order: left vertical, then 白, then 儿.

蔸 has the component 兜 (pocket) and means 'root/base of a plant', while 莿 has 剌 (thorn) and means 'thorn' or 'prickle'. 菐 (pú) appears in rare words and has a completely different structure with 菐 on top. Visually, 蔸 is the only one with a clear '兜' shape at the bottom.

蔸 is commonly used in farming contexts, such as 一蔸 (one plant or clump), 树蔸 (tree stump), and 菜蔸 (vegetable root). It is not in the HSK vocabulary but is essential for describing plant parts in agriculture, especially in southern Chinese dialects. You might hear it when talking about counting vegetables or removing stumps.

Common words containing 蔸 include: 一蔸 (yī dōu) — a plant; a clump of plants; 树蔸 (shù dōu) — Tree stump / Root buttress; 菜蔸 (cài dōu) — vegetable root; stump.