How to Write 蓿 (xu) — Meaning “Clover / Alfalfa”

Picture a field of green clover (艹) where a tired traveler decides to "stay overnight" (宿) because the clover is so soft and comfortable. The bottom part 宿 contains 宀 (roof) and 佰 (hundred), reminding you of a hundred plants resting under one roof.

The top radical 艹 is written first with horizontal strokes: left, right, then the connecting horizontal. The bottom 宿 has 宀 on top, then 亻, then 一, 白 — be careful not to mix up the order; the entire character has 14 strokes. A common mistake is writing the bottom 宿 too wide or forgetting the dot inside 白.

蓿 has the grass radical and 宿 as the phonetic bottom, while 莿 (cì) uses 刺 (thorn) and means "thorny plant," sharing no parts with 蓿. 菐 (pú) has a different bottom (業-like) and is very rare; unlike 蓿, it is not used in common plant names like clover. Visually, 蓿's bottom is clearly 宿 (with roof and "hundred"), while 莿 has 刂 (knife) and 菐 has a more complex bottom.

蓿 appears almost exclusively in the compound word 苜蓿 (mù xu), meaning "alfalfa" or "clover," a common livestock feed. You might see 种苜蓿 (zhǒng mù xu) for "to plant alfalfa." In Chinese culture, 苜蓿 is also associated with good luck because its four-leaf variation is rare, similar to Western clover symbolism.

Common words containing 蓿 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..