蕊 (ruǐ): stamen

Measure Word

一根花蕊 gēn

Meanings

1 stamen
2 pistil
3 the reproductive part of a flower

Characters

蕊

ruǐ

stamen/pistil

Examples

HSK 7-9

蜜蜂在花蕊间采蜜。

Mìfēng zài huā ruǐ jiān cǎi mì.

Bees collect nectar among the stamens.

HSK 7-9

雄蕊和雌蕊是花的重要组成部分。

Xióng ruǐ hé cí ruǐ shì huā de zhòngyào zǔchéng bùfen.

The stamen and pistil are important parts of a flower.

Tips

memory

Think of 蕊 as the 'heart' of the flower - the character 心 (heart) appears three times in its lower half, suggesting multiple seeds or reproductive parts clustered together.

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant

Top grass radical, the three-stroke compressed form of 艸. Indexes 蕊 in the botanical family alongside 花 flower, 草 grass, 苗 sprout. Carries the meaning: a 蕊 is the stamen or pistil of a flower, the reproductive cluster at the center - purely a plant part, hence the grass radical.

phonetic

惢 ruǐ

tripled-heart

Bottom 惢 - three 心 hearts clustered into a triangle. Supplies the sound directly - ruǐ to ruǐ, identical - and adds semantic flavour through the clustered, multi-petalled imagery of three hearts arranged like the central whorl of a flower. The triple-heart picture mirrors the stamen cluster at a blossom's core.