About
The character 蕖 (qú) specifically denotes the lotus flower, most often appearing in the classical compound 芙蕖 (fúqú), an elegant literary term for the blooming plant. It is a phono-semantic compound: the grass radical 艹 (cǎo) on top places it in the botanical category, while the phonetic component 渠 (qú) below provides its pronunciation. 渠 itself means a canal, subtly evoking the aquatic habitat of the lotus. Historically, the use of 蕖 has remained specialized, largely confined to poetic or botanical contexts as a descriptor for water plants rather than everyday language.