barren land
埆 centers on land that is unproductive and hard: barren, infertile ground that yields little.
埆 combines 土 (earth, soil) with 角, which likely contributes the sound and may suggest hard, angular, or barren quality of the land.
The left side is earth 土, and the right side is horn 角. Picture hard, horn-like soil that is too tough to grow anything: barren land.
For カク, imagine a barren field where every angle (カク) of the ground is hard and cracked: angle -> カク, and the land is barren.