arrowroot, kudzu
葛 centers on a specific climbing plant: arrowroot or kudzu. The meanings are botanical rather than abstract, referring to the plant itself.
葛 combines the plant radical 艹 with 曷, which likely contributes the sound. The character originally referred to a type of vine or creeper.
The top 艹 shows it's a plant, and the bottom 曷 looks like a tangled mass of vines. Picture kudzu vines climbing and covering everything.
For カツ, imagine cutting back overgrown kudzu with a sharp cut: cut -> カツ, and the vines are trimmed.
conflict; complication; troubles; discord
kudzu (Pueraria montana); Japanese arrowroot
kudzu root
wicker clothes hamper
Asiatic jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum); Asian jasmine
scarlet kadsura (Kadsura japonica)
skunkvine (Paederia foetida); stinkvine; Chinese fever vine
Tokyo Metropolitan Katsushika Commercial senior High School
raised path leading to a shrine
common vervain (Verbena officinalis); common verbena
jiaogulan (species of herbaceous vine; Gynostemma pentaphyllum)
Asiatic jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum); Asian jasmine
Asiatic jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum); Asian jasmine
skunkvine (Paederia foetida); stinkvine; Chinese fever vine
scarlet kadsura (Kadsura japonica)
creeping plant; creeper; vine; liana; liane
kudzu starch noodles
cloth made from kudzu (Japanese arrowroot) fiber (fibre)
food dressed with liquid starch
infusion of kudzu, cinnamon, etc., used as an antifebrile, for hangovers, etc.