Fritillaria thunbergii. F. verticillata, F. callicola  贝 母 Bèi mǔ  Fritillaria  Family: Liliaceae   
Similar to Fritillaria cirrhosa- Chuan bei mu. If Bei mu is prescribed, it usually means Zhe bei mu, as it less expensive.[4]

浙 贝 母 Zhè bèi mǔ  Zhejiang fritillary bulb    
It is collected in early Summer when the plant has withered, and the bulb is washed and dried for use.
Nature: Cold, cool       FLAVOR: Bitter. CHANNELS: Heart, Lung
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Antitussive and Expectorant Clearing Hot Phlegm
1. Cools and transforms phlegm Heat in the Lung.[4] Clears fevers, moisturises the lungs, resolves phlegm, loosens up congestion.[1]
2. Clear Lung. Relieve cough. Transform sputum.
3. Clear Heat and disssipates nodules.[4] Disperse coagulation. Heal swelling.
INDICATIONS
1. Acute Lung Heat conditions with productive cough.[1,4]
2. Phlegm Fire which congeals and causes neck swellings.[4] Lung abscesses and throat numbness, scrofula and other boils and abscesses.[1] Lymphatic tuberculosis.
3. Breast abcessess and swellings.[4] Breast carbuncles.
4. Cough, common cold.
CONTRAININDICATIONS: According to some traditional sources, it is antagonistic to Aconite- Wu tou.[3,4] It is ineffective in coughs due to phlegm, secondary to Damp Cold.[4]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS: Decoction  Dried bulbs  3- 10g.[1,2,3,4] Note that the raw unprocessed herb is toxic and should never be taken internally.[4] Good quality is fleshy, thick, firm, white, and has a powdery consistency.

贝 母 花  Bèi mǔ  huā   Fritillary flower    
Nature cold     FLAVOR: Bitter
FUNCTIONS
1. Relieve cough, transform sputum.[2]
INDICATIONS
1. Cough with abundant sputum, bronchitis.[2]
PREPARATIONS: Dried flower 3 g.[2]
ORIGIN: Comes from mainly Zhejiang province, China
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research
Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus: Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, Pharmacodynamics, Pharmacokinetics and Toxicity

Verticine, ebeiedine and suchengbeisine isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. inhibited the gene expression and production of MUC5AC mucin from human airway epithelial cells.
Kim EJ, Yoon YP, Woo KW, Kim JH, Min SY, Lee HJ, Lee SK, Hong JH, Lee KR, Lee CJ.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
The bulb of Fritillaria thunbergii has been utilised as mucoregulators and expectorants for controlling the airway inflammatory diseases in folk medicine.
HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE:
We investigated whether verticine, ebeiedine and suchengbeisine isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria thunbergii inhibit the gene expression and production of MUC5AC mucin from human airway epithelial cells.
STUDY DESIGN:
Confluent NCI-H292 cells were pretreated with verticine, ebeiedine or suchengbeisine for 30 min and then stimulated with EGF, PMA or TNF-α for 24h. The MUC5AC mucin gene expression was measured by RT-PCR. Production of MUC5AC mucin protein was measured by ELISA.
RESULTS:
(1) Verticine, ebeiedine or suchengbeisine inhibited the expression of MUC5AC mucin gene induced by EGF, PMA or TNF-α; (2) The production of MUC5AC mucin protein induced by EGF, PMA or TNF-α were also inhibited by treatment of verticine, ebeiedine or suchengbeisine.
CONCLUSION:
These results suggest that verticine, ebeiedine and suchengbeisine isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria thunbergii inhibit the gene expression and production of MUC5AC mucin, by directly acting on airway epithelial cells, and the results are consistent with the traditional use of Fritillaria thunbergii as remedy for diverse inflammatory pulmonary diseases.
Phytomedicine. 2016 Feb 15;23(2):95-104. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2015.12.016. Epub 2016 Jan 14. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Study on the destructive effect to inherent quality of Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. (Zhebeimu) by sulfur-fumigated process using chromatographic fingerprinting analysis.
Duan B, Huang L, Chen S.
Abstract
The after-harvesting sun-dried processing of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus (Zhebeimu) was the traditional treatment for commodity. Over recent decades the natural drying process for bulbus of Fritillariae has been replaced by sulfur-fumigation for reducing the drying duration and pest control. We used ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection (UPLC-ELSD) fingerprinting analysis and major alkaloids determination to investigate the potential damaging effect of the sulfur-fumigating process. The experimental conditions were as follows: Chromatography was proceeded on Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C(18) column; the linear gradient elution was conducted with mobile phase prepared from acetonitrile-0.02% triethylamine; the drift tube temperature was set at 40°C with a nitrogen flow-rate of 30psi, and the spray parameter was set 40%. All calibration curves showed good linear regression (R>0.9991) within the tested range. The method was validated for precision, accuracy, limit of detection and quantification. The study also has shown that sulfur-fumigated samples had significant loss of the main active compounds and a more destructive fingerprint profile when compared to the sun-dried samples.
PMID: 22326548 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2011.12.010  Phytomedicine. 2012 Apr 15;19(6):562-8. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2011.12.010. Epub 2012 Feb 10.  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Identification of bulb from Fritillaria cirrhosa by PCR with specific primers.
Li YF, Li YX, Lin J, Xu Y, Yan F, Tang L, Chen F.
Abstract
Bulb of Fritillaria cirrhosa is an important traditional Chinese herbal medicine. According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (1995), it is commonly used as an antitussive and expectorant. Many young bulbs from species of Fritillaria are similar to those of F. cirrhosa, but they are different in price and quality. Therefore, there are many young bulbs from species of Fritillaria that could fake those of F. cirrhosa on the commercial market. The coding region of 5S-rRNA is highly conserved in higher eukaryotes. The 5S-rRNA spacer region sequences of F. thunbergii, F. pallidiflora, F. ussuriensi, F. delavayi, F.cirrhosa, F. anhuiensis, F. puqiensis were cloned by PCR with a pair of primers located within the conserved coding region. Based on sequences analyses of the 5S-rRNA spacer region from the 7 species, a specific sequence was found in F. cirrhosa. A pair of specific primers was designed for differentiating the bulbs of F. cirrhosa from each other by PCR. This result indicated that the method is rapid, more accurate and applicable in identification of the bulbs of F. cirrhosa at the DNA level.
PMID: 12624833 DOI: 10.1055/s-2003-37699  Planta Med. 2003 Feb;69(2):186-8. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov