萆
bì

the castor-oil plant also used for other plants

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

plant

卑
卑 Sound component
bēi humble, inferior

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangbeɡ
slɯʔ

說文解字

雨衣。一曰衰衣。从艸卑聲。一曰萆藨，似烏韭。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)