Zhe Bei Mu

Name

Zhe Bei Mu (Bulbus Fritillariae Thunbergii) — Ben Cao Zheng (Correction of Materia Medica)

Source and quality

Plant

The dry bulb of perennial Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. of family Lilium.

Where it is grown

Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces .

Harvest

Collected in beginning of summer when withered.

Smell and taste

Light smell and lightly bitter taste.

Better grade

Thick bulb, firm, powder-like with white cross section.

Nature and action

Nature

Bitter, cold; lung and heart channels.

Actions

Clear and resolve heat-phlegm, dissipate nodulation and cure abscess.

When it is used

A. Cough due to wind-heat, phlegm-heat

This herb has similar action to Chuan Bei Mu but bitterer and colder with strong action of clearing fire especially clearing and resolving heat-phlegm as well as directing downward and purging lung qi. It is mostly suitable for the cough caused by external wind-heat invasion and phlegm-heat accumulation of lung. For external wind-heat invasion, lung heat and exuberant phlegm, it is often combined with wind-heat dispersing herbs and lung-clearing and cough-stopping herbs such as Sang Ye, Niu Bang Zi and Qian Hu. For cough of phlegm-heat, it is also combined with heat-clearing and phlegm-heat-resolving herbs such as Gua Lou, Zhi Mu and Zhu Ru.

B. Scrofula, goiter, tumor, sore and abscess

Its action of clearing heat and dissipating nodulation is similar to and stronger than that of Chuan Bei Mu. For scrofula and tuberculosis caused by phlegm-fire accumulation, it is often combined with heat-clearing and toxicity-relieving herbs as well as hardness-softening and nodulation-dissipating herbs. For instance it is combined with Xuan Shen and Mu Li, etc. in Xiao Lei Wan from Yi Xue Xin Wu. For goiter, it is combined with phlegm-removing, hardness-softening and nodulation-dissipating herbs such as Hai Zao and Kun Bu, etc. For sore and mastitis, it is used internally and externally with heat-clearing and toxicity-relieving herbs as well as abscess and swelling-resolving and removing herbs such as Jin Yin Hua, Lian Qiao and Pu Gong Ying. For pus and bloody expectoration of lung abscess, it is often combined with Yu Xing Cao, Lu Gen and Jie Geng.

Dose

Decoction 3~10 g.

Cautions

Contraindicated to Wu Tou.