Seat Flower (正花)
Each flower or season whose number matches your seat (East 1, South 2, West 3, North 4) scores one tai. Flowers are bonus tiles drawn separately.
How Seat Flower (正花) works
Drawing the flower or season tile that matches your own seat position (正花) scores 1 tai per matching tile.
Flower and season tiles are bonus tiles set aside when drawn and replaced from the wall. Under the standard Taiwanese convention only the 正花 — the season or plant whose number matches your seat order (1 for East, 2 for South, 3 for West, 4 for North) — scores, at 1 tai each. Both the matching season and the matching plant can apply, so a player can hold up to two seat flowers. Flowers are independent of hand structure and simply add to the count.
- •Only the flower or season matching your seat number scores this tai; under the common convention, non-matching flowers score nothing on their own.
- •Collecting a complete series — all four seasons or all four plants — scores the separate 2-tai Flower Series (花槓) instead, and all eight flowers score the 8-tai Eight Flowers (八仙過海).
- •Drawing a flower triggers a replacement draw from the wall, which can itself lead to a self-drawn bonus.
Seat Flower (正花) — FAQ
Which flower matches my seat?
Flowers and seasons are numbered, and the one matching your seat order — East is 1, South 2, West 3, North 4 — is your seat flower. Season and plant N both match seat N.
Do non-matching flowers count for anything?
Not by themselves under the standard convention — a lone off-seat flower is worth 0 tai. Off-seat flowers only pay when they complete a full series of four (花槓, 2 tai) or the full set of eight (八仙過海, 8 tai). Some house rules differ, so confirm at your table.