reproduce, luxuriant, foreign

蕃 is composed of the radical of 艸 (grass) and 番. 艸 is the pictograph of two plants and denotes vegetation, while 番 is composed of 釆 and 田 (field), 番 conveys the idea of scattering seeds into a field. When people sow seeds, the plants that later grow in the field will be foreign species rather than native ones; thus 蕃 means foreign or luxuriant.