Lily bulb (Baihe)
Lilium brownii var. viridulum Baker (Fam. Liliaceae)
Pharmaceutical Name: Bulbus Lilii
Botanical Name: 1. Lilium brownii var. viridulum Baker; 2. Lilium pumilum DC.; 3. Lilium lancifolium Thunb.
Common Name: Lily bulb
Source of Earliest Record: Shennong Bencao Jing
Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:
Dried fleshy scale leaf
Bulbus Lilii is collected in autumn. It is washed, slightly scalded in boiling water, and dried in the sun. It is used unprepared or stir-baked with honey.
Properties & Taste: Sweet and slightly cold.
Meridians: Lung and heart
Functions: 1. To moisten the lungs and stop cough; 2. To clear heat in the heart and calm the mind.
Indications & Combinations:
1. Deficient yin of the lung with excessive fire manifested as cough and hemoptysis. Lily bulb (Baihe) is used with Scrophularia (Xuanshen), Tendrilled fritillary bulb (Chuanbeimu) and Fresh rehmannia root (Shengdihuang) in the formula Baihe Gujin Tang.
2. The later stage of febrile diseases with residual heat manifested as irritability, palpitations, insomnia and dreamful sleep. Lily bulb (Baihe) is used with Anemarrhena rhizome (Zhimu) and Fresh rehmannia root (Shengdihuang) in the formula Baihe Dihuang Tang.
Dosage: 10-30 g, decocted in water for an oral dose.
Cautions & Contraindications: This herb is contraindicated in cases of cough due to invasion by wind-cold or diarrhea due to cold in the spleen and stomach.
