菇 (gū) is a Chinese character meaning “mushroom”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 姑 (father's sister; aunt), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “mushroom”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
艹 + 姑
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS（cjkvi-ids，构建期）：菇 ⿱艹姑；形声：艹表草本/菌类义，姑 gū 表音（今音完全一致）
Memory aid
Under the grass (艹) sits Auntie (姑), picking mushrooms. The grass top hints at something that grows; 姑 gives the sound gū.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 香菇xiāng gūshiitake mushroom菇 = gū
- 蘑菇mó gūmushroom菇 = gūspoken asmó gu
Go deeper
All readings
mushroom
mushroom; edible fungus (as in 香菇, 蘑菇)
蘑菇一类可食用的菌类。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 香菇xiāng gūshiitake mushroom菇 = gū
- 蘑菇mó gūmushroom菇 = gūspoken asmó gu
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 菇 mean?
菇 (gū) means mushroom; edible fungus (as in 香菇, 蘑菇).
How do you pronounce 菇?
It is pronounced gū.
What parts is 菇 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 姑 (father's sister; aunt), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS（cjkvi-ids，构建期）：菇 ⿱艹姑；形声：艹表草本/菌类义，姑 gū 表音（今音完全一致）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 菇 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 菇?
艹. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 菇?
Common ones are 香菇 and 蘑菇. The reading of 菇 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.