Pharmaceutical Name:

Bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae

Botanical Name:

Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don
Fritillaria unibracteata Hsiao et K. C. Hsia
Fritillaria Przewalskii Maxim
Fritillaria  Delavayi Franch.

Common Name:

Tendrilled Fritillary Bulb

Source of Earliest Record:

Shennong Bencao Jing

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The bulbs are dug in summer and dried in the sun. The bulb bark is removed.

Properties and Taste:

Bitter, sweet and slightly cold

Meridians:

Lung and heart

Functions:

To moisten the lungs and resolve phlegm
To stop cough
To clear heat and release nodules

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Cough:

a)       Chronic cough due to lung deficiency manifested as dry cough and dry throat.
*Use with Ophiopogon root (Maidong) and Glehnia root (Shashen).

b)       Phlegm-heat cough manifested as yellow and thick sputum.
*Use with Anemarrhena rhizome (Zhimu), Scutellaria root (Huangqin) and Trichosanthes fruit (Gualou).  

c)       Wind-heat cough.
*Use with Mulberry leaf (Sangye), Peucedanum root (Qianhu) and Apricot seed (Xingren).

2.     Scrofula, mastitis and lung abscess:

a)       Scrofula.
*Use with Scrophularia (Xuanshen) and Oyster shell (Muli).

b)       Mastitis.
*Use with Houttuynia (Yuxingcao) and Coix seed (Yiyiren).

Dosage:

3-10 g

Cautions:

This herb cannot be used with Sichuan aconite root (Wutou), as they counteract each other.