How to Write 楂 (zhā) — Meaning “hawthorn”

Imagine a tree (木) that has a sign on it with the word "查" (meaning to check) because you need to check carefully before picking the small red hawthorn fruits. This visual of inspecting a tree for fruit helps connect the shape to hawthorn.

Write the left radical 木 first (horizontal, vertical, left-falling, right-falling), then the right part 查 (starting with horizontal, then vertical, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, horizontal, horizontal, vertical). A common mistake is making the left 木 too wide; keep it narrow so the right side has enough space, and ensure the last horizontal in 查 is long enough to balance the character.

楂 (zhā) means hawthorn and uses the phonetic 查, while 桫 (suō) refers to a type of tree fern and has the phonetic 沙 (shā) inside. 桲 (pó or bó) means a kind of wooden bat or a fruit tree like quince, with phonetic 孛. Visually, 楂 has a clear 查 component, whereas 桫 has 沙 and 桲 has 孛, and their pronunciations and meanings differ completely.

楂 appears almost exclusively in the word 山楂 (shān zhā, hawthorn) and its related foods like 山楂片 (hawthorn flakes) and 山楂糕 (hawthorn cake). Hawthorn is very popular in Chinese cuisine for its tart flavor and is also used in traditional medicine to aid digestion. It is especially common in northern China, where candied hawthorn sticks (糖葫芦) are a beloved street snack.

Common words containing 楂 include: 山楂 (shān zhā) — Hawthorn; 山楂片 (shān zhā piàn) — Hawthorn flakes; 山楂糕 (shān zhā gāo) — Hawthorn cake.