艹 /草（cǎo; is grass）

艹 /草 is a pictograph. Its ancient form looks like two stalks of grass with sprouting leaves. It means grass. In modern Chinese, 艹 is no longer an independent character. It is used only as radical in compound characters. When it appears at the top of a compound, it is written as艹, Characters containing the艹 radical often have meanings related to grass of plants, such as 花 （huā；flower） and 芽 （yá； sprout）.