Fritillary Bulb
(Bulbus Fritillariae)
This herb has two variants-Sichuan fritillary bulb and Zhejiang fritillary bulb. Sichuan fri- tillary bulb comes from Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don. , Fritillaria uni- bracteata Hsiao et Hsia., Fritillaria przewalskii Maxim., or Fritillaria del- avayi Franch. (family Liliaceae). It is produced mainly in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Tibet, harvested in summer, used after being dried in sunlight. Zhejiang fritillary bulb comes from Fritillaria thun- bergii Miq. (family Liliaceae), which originally grew in Xiang shan County in Zhejiang Province and hence has the other name-Xiang fritillary bulb. Now it grows mainly in Jinxian County in Zhejiang Province. It is collected in summer when the plant has withered, and the bulb is washed and dried for use.
Property:
Sichuan fritillary bulb is bitter and sweet, slightly cold, and Zhejiang
friti- llary bulb is bitter and cold. Both of them work towards lung and
heart channels.
Effects:
Resolvng phlegm to stop cough and clearing away heat to dispel accumulation.
Used for:
1. Sichuan fritillary bulb is sweet and cool and has the effect of moistening
the lung. For cough, scanty sputum and dry throat due to deficiency of
the lung, it is usually used with glehnia root and op- hiopogon root.
Zhejiang fritillary bulb is cold and bitter, and has a strong activity
of clearing away heat to dispel accumula- tion. For cough due to affection
by wind- heat exopathogens or due to stagnation of phlegm-fire, it is
often used in combination with mulberry leaf and arctium fruit.
2. Zhejiang fritillary bulb is effective for scrofula, sores and abscesses. For scrofula, it is often used with scrophu- laria root and oyster shell, as in Scrofula-elimi- nating Pill (Xiaoluo Wan); for breast carbuncles, it is often used with dandelion and tri- chosanthes root; for lung abscess, it is often used with houttuynia and coix seed.
Dosage and administration: 3- 10g, decocted in water for an oral dose.
Precautions:
It is antagonistic to aconite.