Shen Collection, Upper Volume Radical: Grass (cǎo) Mai Kangxi Stroke Count: 18 Page 1057, Entry 36 Pronounced mai (falling tone). People in the Wu region call the sow thistle plant mai. Book of Jin (Jinshu), Records of the Five Elements, records: The sow thistle grew in the home of the artisan Wu Ping. Additionally, water sow thistle is the name of a medicinal herb. According to the Collection of Rhymes (Jiyun), it is also the name of a type of vegetable. The Extensive Refinements (Boya) records: Mai is the same as the vegetable known as ku.