About
菝 is a phono-semantic compound with the semantic radical 艹 (cǎo, "grass") above the phonetic component 宕 (dàng). It has no independent meaning in common usage and appears only as part of the botanical name for henbane, 莨菪 (lángdàng). As this plant is known for its medicinal and highly toxic alkaloids, the character is found exclusively in pharmacological texts, traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, and botanical taxonomies, where the grass radical classifies it among herbaceous and toxic flora.