chestnut
栗 centers on the chestnut, a specific type of nut with a prickly husk. The meaning is concrete and does not extend into abstract senses.
栗 combines 覀 (a variant of 西, originally depicting a bag or container) with 木 (tree), suggesting a tree that produces chestnuts. The character likely originated as a pictograph of a chestnut tree with spiky fruits.
The top 覀 looks like a spiky chestnut husk, and the bottom 木 is a tree. Together they show a chestnut growing on a tree.
For リツ, imagine a chestnut tree that produces a rich, rhythmic harvest: the sound 'rits' echoes the rhythm of falling nuts. Rits -> リツ.
Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata)
squirrel (any mammal of family Sciuridae)
potato starch
broiled sweet chestnuts
dogtooth violet (Erythronium japonicum)
chestnut (horse coat color)
chestnut-color; chestnut-colour
squirrel monkey (esp. the common squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus)
chestnut in its burr
American chestnut (Castanea dentata)
common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus)
Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus)
black-capped squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis)
European chestnut
crushed stone; hardcore; macadam
crushed stone; hardcore; macadam
dried chestnut
red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Taiwanese squirrel (subspecies of Pallas's squirrel, Callosciurus erythraeus thaiwanensis)
acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo var. turbinata)