How to Write 蘖 (niè) — Meaning “tiller; sprout from a stump”

Imagine a stump covered in snow (薛 sounds like 'snow') with green sprouts (艹) pushing through the snow in spring. This image links the 'sprout from stump' meaning to the character's components.

Write 艹 first as two horizontal strokes with a short vertical in the middle, then carefully draw the complex 薛 below. The overall structure is top-heavy: keep the grass radical compact and balance the many strokes of 薛 so the character doesn't tilt.

蘖 specifically means tillers or shoots from a stump, while 䕭 (qián) refers to a type of plant (Cynodon dactylon) and 薶 (mái) means to bury or cover. Visually, 蘖 has the grass radical combined with 薛, whereas 䕭 uses 前 and 薶 uses 貍 as lower components.

蘖 appears mainly in botanical or agricultural contexts, such as describing rice tillering (分蘖) or tree stump sprouts (萌蘖). It is not common in daily conversation and is more likely found in textbooks, scientific articles, or traditional farming discussions.

Common words containing 蘖 include: 萌蘖 (méng niè) — tillering; sprouts from a stump; 分蘖 (fēn niè) — Tillering (botany); 蘖枝 (niè zhī) — tiller branch; adventitious shoot.