U+861C "蘜" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character

U+861C "蘜" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a rare and historically rich Chinese character that primarily refers to a type of plant, specifically identified in classical texts as the chrysanthemum, though it is often distinguished from the more common modern character for chrysanthemum (菊 "ju"). This ideograph appears in ancient Chinese dictionaries and literary works, such as the "Erya" and "Shuowen Jiezi," where it is defined as a medicinal herb sometimes conflated with or used as a variant for certain grasses or flowering plants. Its structure combines the "grass" radical (艹) with the phonetic component "匊," underscoring its botanical nature. Due to its obscurity, the character is rarely used in contemporary writing, making it a subject of interest primarily for paleographers, historical linguists, and those studying classical Chinese flora and terminology.