Tendrilled Fritillary Bulb (Chuanbeimu)

Tendrilled Fritillary Bulb (Chuanbeimu)

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: To moisten the lungs and resolve phlegm
To stop cough
To clear heat and release nodules
Meridian: Lung and heart
Functions: To tonify the liver and kidneys
To promote the circulation of blood
To strengthen the bones and tendons
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.