菰

gu̅ = gu + Ø1

Manchurian wild rice (Zizania latifolia), now rare in the wild, formerly harvested for its grain, now mainly cultivated for its edible stem known as 茭白筍|茭白笋[jiao1 bai2 sun3], which is swollen by a smut fungus / (variant of 菇[gu1]) mushroom

菰 character breakdown

菰
- 孤
  - 子
    - 一
    - 了
      - 乛
      - 亅
  - 孑
    - 一
    - 了
      - 乛
      - 亅
    - 子
      - 一
      - 了
        
        乛
        
        亅
  - 瓜
    - 厶
    - ⺁
      - 丿
    - ㇏
- 艹

孤

gu̅ = gu + Ø1

lone / lonely

孤 = 孑 + 瓜 : Gitta Giraffe (gu) is currently the space station's lone (孤) inhabitant. To feel less lonely (孤), she drew a mosquito's (孑) face on a melon (瓜) to have somebody to talk to in front of the space station (Ø1).

艹

cǎo = c + ao3

grass radical 草字頭兒|草字头儿[cao3 zi4 tou2 r5]

Artificial lawn. The King of Chu burns artificial lawn in the aorta.