How to Write 蒺 (jí) — Meaning “Puncture vine or gorse”

Imagine a sick (疾) plant (艹) that grows thorns like an arrow (矢) piercing a bed (疒) — the bottom part 疾 contains 疒 (sickness) and 矢 (arrow). Visualize stepping on this plant and feeling a sharp pain like a sick arrow.

Write the top 艹 first with three strokes (horizontal, vertical, vertical), then the bottom 疾: start with the dot and horizontal stroke of 疒, then write the internal 矢 (three strokes: left-falling, horizontal, right-falling). A common mistake is making the 艹 too wide or forgetting the dot inside 疒.

蒺 specifically refers to the puncture vine plant (Tribulus) and its thorns, while 莿 (cì) is an ancient variant meaning thorn or thorny tree and is rarely used. 菀 (wǎn) means luxuriant growth or is a type of grass, lacking the spiny, sharp meaning of 蒺.

蒺 appears mainly in the compound 蒺藜 (jílí), meaning puncture vine or its spiny fruit. In military history, 铁蒺藜 (tiě jílí) refers to iron caltrops used to slow enemies, and the plant itself is featured in traditional Chinese medicine for its seeds (蒺藜子).

Common words containing 蒺 include: 蒺藜 (jí lí) — Puncture vine; 铁蒺藜 (tiě jí lí) — iron caltrop / barbed wire; 蒺藜子 (jí lí zi) — Tribulus fruit.