Snowland fritillary / chuan-bei
Fritillaria cirrhosa
Photo credit: Siddarth Machado
Safety information
Safety information
Toxicity: Caution — alkaloid-bearing. Steroidal alkaloids can have cardiovascular/respiratory effects at high dose; overdose risk. Treat as a potent medicinal.
Contraindications: Pregnancy (alkaloid content; insufficient safety data — avoid medicinal use); cardiac caution; not for self-dosing. Classically considered incompatible with aconite in TCM 'eighteen incompatibilities.'
Interactions: Theoretical cardiac/CNS interactions (alkaloid class); classical aconite-incompatibility caution.
Pregnancy & breastfeeding: Avoid medicinal use in pregnancy (alkaloid content).
Evidence level
Supported by laboratory or animal studies; not yet confirmed in humans.
Preparations
decoction · bulb
Part used: bulb
pill · bulb
Part used: bulb
powder · bulb
Part used: bulb
Traditional use: lung-heat/phlegm drug; dry cough, hot lung patterns, phlegm and bronchial complaints; prized cough-and-expectorant bulb
Proposed mechanism: isosteroidal alkaloids (peimine/verticine, peiminine, imperialine, sipeimine), steroidal saponins — antitussive/expectorant, bronchorelaxant
Dosage note (descriptive only): not for self-dosing
Associated conditions
Nutritional notes
Not nutritional.
Healing traditions
Sources (1)
- Xinyu et al. 2026, Front Pharmacol (PMID 42244863)