Chinese character 薚

It appears in a classical plant name. The Erya (a classical Chinese glossary with a plant section) records the pairing 蓫薚 and glosses it as 馬尾. Later commentary says the plant was called 薚 in western regions and 當陸 in Jiangdong; the plant is also named 商陸. The Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese character dictionary, does not list 薚, so its written history is preserved in plant glossaries and later lexicons.

What does 薚 mean when someone sends it?

Read a lone 薚 as a plant or character reference. The sender may have another intent, so use the surrounding message to decide. Without context, the old botanical reference may not be obvious. In a conversation about a classical passage, the plant, or the written form, 薚 is deliberate; elsewhere it can look accidental.