蕃

• Botanical/Quantitative: Lush, luxuriant, dense, or flourishing (adj.); to proliferate, multiply, or grow thickly (v.).
• Geopolitical: Foreign, alien, or distant (adj.); non-Han peoples or peripheral territories (n.); exotic goods or tribute items.

In the geopolitical sense, this glyph is frequently interchangeable with 番.

Tang-period reading: biæn. The "foreign" meaning is likely a phonetic loan from 番 rather than a conceptual evolution.

The intended sense is typically determined by the immediate environment: contexts of nature, gardens, or demographics suggest botanical/quantitative meanings; contexts of borders, diplomacy, tribute, or ethnic identity suggest geopolitical meanings.