About
茭 (jiāo) is a phono-semantic compound for Zizania latifolia, an aquatic plant native to East Asia commonly called Manchurian wild rice or water bamboo. It combines the grass radical 艹 (cǎo) at the top, indicating a plant, with the phonetic 交 (jiāo) 'to intersect'. Originally cultivated as an important grain, the plant's stems swell into an edible vegetable when infected by a smut fungus, shifting the meaning to the stalk known as 茭白 (jiāobái). Thus, 茭 is a specific agricultural and culinary term, not a generic word for marsh grasses.
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