苞 (bāo) is a Chinese character meaning “a flower bud”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 包 (to wrap; bundle), one above the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “flower bud”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 包
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（⿱艹包，3+5=8 笔）
Memory aid
Grass (艹) on top of 包 "to wrap": the plant wraps its flower up and keeps it closed — a bud. 包 also carries the sound, and here it does not even change: bāo stays bāo.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 花苞huā bāoflower bud苞 = bāo
- 含苞hán bāoto be in bud; not yet in bloom苞 = bāo
Go deeper
All readings
bud
a flower bud; the leafy husk that wraps a flower before it opens
花未开放时包在外面的小叶片；也指还没开的花朵。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 花苞huā bāoflower bud苞 = bāo
- 含苞hán bāoto be in bud; not yet in bloom苞 = bāo
Sound component
包 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 苞 mean?
苞 (bāo) means a flower bud; the leafy husk that wraps a flower before it opens.
How do you pronounce 苞?
It is pronounced bāo.
What parts is 苞 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 包 (to wrap; bundle), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（⿱艹包，3+5=8 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 苞 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 苞?
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 苞?
Common ones are 花苞 and 含苞. The reading of 苞 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.