Top bamboo radical — two abbreviated bamboo leaves over short stems, the compressed cap form of
竹. The indexing radical, and purely literal: a
竿 is a bamboo pole, the long straight kind used for fishing rods, drying poles, flag staffs. Same bamboo-tools family:
笔 brush (a bamboo stem with hair tip),
筷 chopsticks,
篱 fence,
笼 cage.
