藜

Botanical noun for //Chenopodium album// (pigweed, goosefoot). It refers to a common opportunistic weed and, in contexts of foraging or diet, to edible wild greens (e.g., 藜蒿).

When distinguishing from other "weeds":

// vs. 蒿 (//hāo//): While both are wild plants, //hāo* (mugwort/wormwood) often carries medicinal or aromatic connotations and is more frequently linked to ritual or folk medicine.

// vs. 茅 (//máo//): Whereas //máo* (thatch/reed) often refers to building materials or marshy landscapes, 藜 specifically suggests the scrubby growth of neglected soil.

Reading stable as //lei// from the Tang period and Fanqie (郎奚). Semantic variant: U+853E (藬).

Phono-semantic compound consisting of 艹 (grass) and 累 (//lèi//).

In literary contexts, the appearance of this plant as a "wild growth" frequently signals abandoned spaces or wastelands, often carrying a subtext of poverty, social marginalization, or melancholy.