奇花异草
qí huā yì cǎo · HSK 7
very rarely seen
🌸🌿 奇 strange + 花 flower + 异 different + 草 grass = strange flowers and exotic plants
A four-part compound: 奇 (rare/strange) and 异 (different/exotic) each tag a plant — 花 (flower) and 草 (grass/herb). Literally rare flowers and exotic plants, used for anything seldom seen or out of the ordinary.
花 — grass radical 艹 + 化 (change/phonetic)
花 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The top 艹 (grass) signals the plant meaning, while 化 ('change, transform') gives the sound and hints at how buds change into blossoms. It originally meant 'flower' or 'blossom' and later extended to 'flowery, patterned, to spend.'
草 — grass radical 艹 + 早 (zǎo, phonetic)
草 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The top 艹 (grass radical, derived from 艸) gives the meaning 'grass' or 'plant', while 早 underneath supplies the sound. Originally 草 referred to a specific plant and acorn-like fruit, but it shifted to mean grass and vegetation broadly, and by extension 'rough' or 'draft'.