What Are Flower Tiles in Mahjong?

Flower tiles are 8 special tiles in American Mahjong featuring flowers or seasons. They can be used as wilds in certain hands on the NMJL card. Unlike Jokers, Flowers are specific tiles that can be used in pairs and have their own designated uses.

Flower tiles are a set of 8 special tiles in American Mahjong. Traditionally they show four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) and four flowers (Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, Bamboo), but all 8 play the same role at the table. Jokers are universal wilds, Flowers are not. They only count in hands where the NMJL card spells out Flower groups: pairs (FF), Pungs (FFF), or multiple Flower groups in one hand. One real edge Flowers have over Jokers is that you can use them in pairs. You can also pass them during the Charleston, since nobody needs Flowers unless they're going for a Flower hand. Knowing which hands on the current card use Flowers tells you whether to keep the ones you draw or pass them on.