Wiseman’s Chinese Medical Database

bèi mǔ / 贝母 / 貝母 / fritillaria [bulb]

Latin pharmacognostic name: Fritillariae Bulbus

Alternate English names:

Alternate Chinese names:

Origin: Plant

Use: medicinal

Category: Unclassified

Properties:

Channel entry:

Indications:

Notes:

The term bèi mǔ refers either to both Zhèjiāng fritillaria (zhè bèi mǔ 浙贝母) and Sìchuān fritillaria (chuān bèi mǔ 川贝母), or specifically the former, which is more commonly used. The two have basically the same actions, but chuān bèi mǔ is primarily sweet and moistening, making it suitable for lung heat dry cough and vacuity taxation cough. Zhè bèi mǔ is primarily bitter and discharging and is suitable for cough due either to wind-heat invading the lung or to phlegm-heat lying depressed in the lung. Both medicinals also clear heat and disperse binds, but zhè bèi mǔ is more powerful in this regard.

Product Description:

川贝母, derived from Fritillaria cirrhosa, is round and pointed at one end, with numerous fibrous roots sprouting from its base. It is about 0.5–1 cm in diameter. Two interlocking scales on the outside enclose a number of scales and a central stalk. It is white in color, brittle in substance, and when broken the ruptured edge has a farinaceous appearance. 浙贝母, from Fritillaria verticillata, is a larger bun-shaped bulb, 2–3.5 cm in diameter and 1–1.5 cm high. It has 2 thick scales on the exterior enveloping numerous small ones. It is often sold in the form of separated scales, which are white on the outer surface and pale brown on the inner surface. These are often cut into 2 mm thick slices.

Quality:

Dry, neatly shaped, heavy, pure-white, farinaceous bulbs are the best.

Product Area:

Fritillaria cirrhosa: Sìchuān, Tibet, Yúnnán, Gānsū, Qīnghǎi. Fritillaria verticillata: Zhèjiāng, Jiāngsū.

Etymology:

Bèi mǔ 贝母, ""cowrie mother,"" is so named because the bulb appears like cowries clustering around their mother.

See also:

chuān bèi mǔ (川贝母 Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus, Sìchuān fritillaria [bulb];); zhè bèi mǔ (浙贝母 Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus, Zhèjiāng fritillaria [bulb];)