蓒 character

It names a water-growing herb with a strong smell. The recorded compound 蓒芋 is associated with 蕕草, a plant that grows in water.

An early Chinese dictionary, 《爾雅》, lists 莤 and 蔓于 as plant names; its commentary uses 軒于 for a water-growing plant. These are botanical name connections, not visual lookalikes. A 2024 record in the Ministry of Education's Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants notes that the classical dictionary 《說文》 does not list 蓒; later rhyme dictionaries record 蓒芋. A poem from 18th-century Joseon, a Korean kingdom, uses 蓒芋 in a landscape passage.

What does 蓒 mean when someone sends it?

By itself, 蓒 does not identify the intended word or quotation. It appears in plant names and older writing, so the surrounding text matters. If someone sends it alone, ask whether they meant 蓒芋 or were quoting an older passage.

How can I type 蓒?

Use a Chinese input method that lets you search rare characters.

With Cangjie, enter TJJJ. In IBus Cangjie, the default common-character filter can hide it, so enable rare characters. A Mandarin phonetic input method can search xuān or ㄒㄩㄢ.

蓒 is text drawn by a font. If it appears as a box, the current font may lack the glyph; a CJK font that includes it can display the character.