How many flowers are in American mahjong?
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American mahjong uses eight flower tiles, and every flower counts as the same tile, whatever picture, number or season is printed on it. Flowers are ordinary tiles in the American game: you pass them, call them, discard them and use them wherever the card shows an F.
Are all flowers the same?
Yes. Ignore the art, the numbers and any season names. For play, any flower matches any other flower, so a pair of flowers is any two flowers and a pung is any three.
How are flowers used?
Flowers are used wherever the card prints an F, in pairs, pungs, kongs and quints. They follow the same rules as any other tile, with jokers allowed only in groups of three or more.
- On the card, an F means a flower. Many hands use a pair, a pung or a kong of them.
- Jokers can fill a flower group of three or more. A flower pair or a single flower must be real.
- Calling. You can call a discarded flower to finish a flower pung, kong or quint, or to win.
- Passing. Flowers can be passed in the Charleston, unlike jokers.
- No suit. A flower is never a number and never part of a run.
- Not wild. A flower only ever counts as a flower.
Why does my set have 16 flowers?
Because some sets ship spare flowers beyond the eight the League game uses, and older sets come from years when the counts were different. The League game has used eight flowers and eight jokers since the early 1970s. Play with eight and put the rest away, or keep them as spares.
Where tables play it differently
- Chinese-style games set flowers aside as bonus tiles and draw a replacement. American mahjong never does that; a flower stays in your hand like any other tile.
- Strategy, not rules. Some players hoard flowers early because so many hands use them. Others pass them when their rack points elsewhere. Both are legal.
A worked example
Your hand needs a kong of flowers, and you hold three flowers and a joker:
That is a legal kong. If the same hand also needs a separate pair of flowers, those two must be real:
Count the flowers you can see. The pair needs two real ones, so once seven flowers are showing elsewhere, that pair is gone.
Common questions
How many flowers do you play with in American mahjong?
Eight. The standard 152-tile American set has eight flowers and eight jokers.
Do you play with 8 or 16 flowers?
Eight. If your set has sixteen, play with any eight and set the rest aside.
Can you call a flower in mahjong?
Yes. You can call a discarded flower to finish a flower pung, kong or quint that you then expose, or to win.
Can you pass flowers in the Charleston?
Yes. Jokers are the only tiles you can never pass.
Are flowers wild in mahjong?
No. A flower only counts as a flower. Jokers are the only wild tiles.