How to Write 苜 (mù) — Meaning “alfalfa”

Imagine an alfalfa plant growing tall, with a big eye in the middle of its leaves — the eye 目 is watching for hungry animals. This picture links the grass radical 艹 to the eye component 目, helping you remember both the shape and the sound.

The top part 艹 is three strokes: first a horizontal line, then a vertical line through it, then another short horizontal. The bottom part 目 has five strokes and should be centered under the grass radical, with the vertical strokes straight and the three inner horizontals evenly spaced.

苜 has 目 (eye) at the bottom, 兹 has 玄 (a complex symbol) at the bottom, and 艻 has 力 (strength) at the bottom. Their meanings are completely different: 苜 is a plant (alfalfa), 兹 is a literary word meaning 'now' or 'this', and 艻 refers to a kind of grass.

苜 is almost always used in the compound word 苜蓿 (mù xu), which means alfalfa or clover. You might see it in agricultural texts, plant names, or when talking about animal feed, but it is not a common character in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 苜 include: 苜蓿 (mù xu) — alfalfa / clover; 苜蓿草 (mù xu cǎo) — alfalfa grass / clover; 种苜蓿 (zhǒng mù xu) — To plant alfalfa..