Fritillaria, Bei Mu 贝母

Fritillaria thunbergii
(Photo by Piropiro77) (Wikimedia)

Grades of Fritillaria Bei Mu (Adam, 2017)

Fritillaria Bei Mu (Chengdu Medicine Market. Adam, 2017)

Uses:

1. Clears Phlegm-Heat, Stops Cough: (TCM, Ayurveda, Tibetan)

–Cough, chronic Cough, Cough with Blood-streaked sputum
–Bronchitis, Asthma, Tuberculosis
–Chuan Bei Mu (F. cirrhosa et. al.) is stronger for this function

2. Clears Phlegm-Heat, Reduces Masses:

–Phlegm-Heat nodes, nodules, swellings, Scrofula
–Breast Abscesses
–traditionally to promote Labor and expel the Placenta
–Zhi Bei Mu (F. thunbergii) is stronger for this function

3. Resists Poison, Heals Fractures: (Tibet)

–Fractures including Cranial Fractures
–nourishes the Bones and Marrow (TCM: Mingyi Bielu)
–Deficient Heat disorders
–Poisoning, Fever
–“Treates Epidemics” (TCM: Zhen Quan)
–“Fever and restlessness in cases of febrile diseases caused by Cold … Inflammation of the Throat” (Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing)

4. Calms the Mind:

-benefits Memory, calms mental disorders (Tibet)
–“used to treat cases of Depression and Melancholy. It is very effective indeed”. (Chen Cheng)

5. Externally:

-applied to Wounds
-burn the root, powder and mix with oil. Apply to malgnant sores (Da Ming)
-“Grind the drug to powder, and apply it to treat eye nebulae and opacity” (Zhen Quan)

Difference between Chuan Bei Mu and Zhe Bei Mu

1. Chuan Bei Mu: more moistening and strengthening, better for dry and chronic Cough, Asthma and Tuberculosis with Lung weakness
2. Zhe Bei Mu: more effective for clearing Heat and dispersing Lumps. Better for acute Heat-type Cough with thick, yellow, hard-to-clear sputum and for Phlegm-Heat Lumps, Nodes and Scrofula.
Hubei Bei Mu and Yi Bei Mu are also listed separately in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. They are less commonly used and are more similar to Zhe Bei Mu in effect, lacking the tonic qualities of Chuan Bei Mu

Main Combinations:

1. Cough
i. mix with sugar and hold in the mouth to stop Cough (Da Ming)
ii. with copious sputum, Fritillaria Chuan Bei Mu with Almond kernel (Xing Ren)
iii. acute Cough with Heat, Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu with Forsythia Lian Qiao and Burdock seed (Niu Bang Zi)
iv. from Heat, Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu with Coptis Huang Lian and Scutellaria Huang Qin
v. from Yin deficient Heat with sputum that is hard to clear, Fritillaria Chuan Bei Mu with Anemarrhena Zhi Mu
2. Cough, Bronchitis, Asthmatic Bronchitis, Pneumonia from Phlegm-Heat, Fritillaria Chuan Bei Mu, Antelope horn (Ling Yang Jiao), Cow Bile (Niu Dan), Musk (She Xiang), Aloeswood (Chen Xiang), Tabasheer (Tian Zhu Huang), calcined Borax (Duan Peng Sha). This is a patent medicine.
3. Scrofula, Abscess:
i. combine Fritillaria Chuan Bei Mu and Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu
ii. Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu with Figwort root (Xuan Shen), Self Heal (Xia Ku Cao)
iii. Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu with Kelp (Kun Bu) and Sargassum (Hai Zao)
iv. Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu with Dandelion (Pu Gong Ying) and Chrysanthemum flower (Ju Hua)
4. Cold Phlegm obstructing the Chest, Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu with Platycodon Jie Geng and Croton seed (Ba Dou).
5. Goiter, Scrofula:
i. Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu with Forsythia Lian Qiao.
ii. Fritillaria Zhe Bei Mu with Scrophularis Xuan Shen, Prunella Xia Ku Cao.
6. Difficult Labor: “Grind seven pieces of the drug to powder, and wash down with wine to treat difficult labor and retention of placenta” (Zhen Quan)

Major Formula:

Bai He Gu Jin Tang
Bei Mu Gua Lou San
Bo Ying Compound
Ding Xian Wan
Er Mu San
Jiu Xian San
Ling Jiao Gou Teng Tang
Qing Fei Tang
Ren Shen Ge Jie San
Sang Xing Tang
Yang Yin Qing Fei Tang
Xiao Luo Wan