Shan Ci Gu (Bulb of Chinese Tulip)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Shan Ci Gu?

  Most current materia medica and pharmacognosy sources give 3–9 g in decoction as the standard range, with several clinical references capping lower (around 3–6 g), reflecting its slightly-toxic classification. Ground herb mixed with vinegar or rice wine into a paste is a traditional topical preparation for sores, swellings, and bites.

  • Decoction: 3–9 g is the range most consistently cited; some clinical sources use a tighter 3–6 g.
  • Topical: ground and mixed with vinegar or wine, applied externally to sores, toxic swellings, and bites.
  • Doses at the upper end or prolonged courses are not used without professional supervision, both because of the herb’s own slightly-toxic classification and because of a documented substitution risk with more toxic look-alike herbs (see Toxicity below).

  Source: materia medica consensus (Bensky, Materia Medica, 3rd ed.; Chen & Chen); Jiang et al., Arabian Journal of Chemistry review (DOI 10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.104090). Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Shan Ci Gu?

  Shan Ci Gu is classified slightly toxic and is used cautiously, at moderate doses, and generally avoided in pregnancy and in patients who are weak or qi-deficient. Several clinical sources also flag caution in patients with compromised liver function, given the herb’s cold, toxin-resolving nature and the substitution risk noted below.

  • Pregnancy — traditionally avoided; a toxin-resolving, dispersing herb of this type is not used in pregnancy without a qualified practitioner.
  • Weak/deficient patients — used cautiously in qi- or Spleen-Stomach-deficient patients with loose stools or poor appetite, since its cold, toxin-clearing action can further tax digestion.
  • Dose discipline — large or prolonged doses are avoided; this is a professionally-supervised herb, not a self-dosed one.

  Source: materia medica consensus (Bensky, Materia Medica, 3rd ed.; Chen & Chen); clinical TCM references. Reference only, not medical advice.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Slightly toxic, with a real identification/substitution risk that is more clinically significant than the authentic herb’s own toxicity. The Chinese-Pharmacopoeia-recognized source plants (Cremastra appendiculata, Pleione bulbocodioides, Pleione yunnanensis — orchid family) are chemically dominated by phenanthrenes and bibenzyls, not colchicine, and are classified slightly toxic on that basis. However, the common English name “Bulb of Chinese Tulip” and the shared pinyin “Shan Ci Gu” are also historically and commercially applied to unrelated, colchicine-bearing bulbs — Guang Ci Gu (Tulipa edulis, Liliaceae) and Li Jiang Shan Ci Gu (Iphigenia indica, Colchicaceae), the latter a recognized industrial source plant for colchicine extraction. These look-alikes are documented in the pharmacognosy literature as far more toxic (gastrointestinal, marrow-suppressive, and potentially fatal at high dose) and have historically been sold interchangeably with, or even as the original source of, “Shan Ci Gu.” Because of this, correct botanical sourcing matters more for this herb than for most.

  Note: The Sacred Lotus database records this herb’s common name as “Bulb of Chinese Tulip” with the generic Latin “Pseudobulbus Shancigu,” which historically aligns with the Tulipa-edulis identity, while its channels (Liver, Stomach) and dosage data align with the modern orchid-pseudobulb (Cremastra/Pleione) monographs used across current materia medica. Both lineages share the pinyin “Shan Ci Gu” and English “Bulb of Chinese Tulip,” and sources are not fully consistent on which plant a given historical reference intends. This entry documents the toxicity profile of both the authentic orchid pseudobulb and the colchicine-bearing look-alikes, and flags the naming ambiguity rather than asserting one botanical source with certainty; the identity field is left unchanged pending owner review.

  Source: Jiang et al., Arabian Journal of Chemistry review (DOI 10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.104090); materia medica consensus; pharmacognosy literature on Tulipa edulis (Guangcigu) and Iphigenia indica adulteration/substitution. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

• This herb is considered slightly toxic.
  (while some Chinese herbs are toxic, it must be noted that many come prepared, or are combined, to mitigate their toxicity)

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No well-established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented for the authentic orchid-derived Shan Ci Gu (Cremastra/Pleione spp.), whose chemistry is dominated by phenanthrenes and bibenzyls rather than colchicine. Because the same name is also applied to colchicine-bearing look-alike herbs (see Toxicity), practitioner awareness of colchicine’s well-known interactions — with CYP3A4 inhibitors, P-glycoprotein inhibitors, and statins, which can raise colchicine toxicity risk — is a reasonable precaution tied to correct sourcing, not a demonstrated interaction of the pharmacopeial herb itself. (Flagged for practitioner confirmation.)

Western / Biomedical Research

Chinese Herb Clinical Studies & Research

Provided as research context — a summary of published biomedical study, not a therapeutic or medical claim.

• Is there modern research on Shan Ci Gu (Cremastra appendiculata / Pleione spp.)?

  Yes — growing preclinical research, mostly network-pharmacology, cell, and animal studies of anti-tumor activity, with no clinical trials identified. Chemically, a 2022 review catalogued roughly 234 isolated compounds, dominated by phenanthrenes and bibenzyls, alongside glucosyloxybenzyl succinates, lignans, flavonoids, and simple phenolics.

  • Non-small-cell lung cancer (network pharmacology, 2021) — a network-pharmacology and molecular-docking study proposed a multi-target mechanism against NSCLC, identifying β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and 2-methoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene-4,5-diol as candidate active compounds acting on targets including EGFR, MTOR, and JAK2. Computational/predictive study, not clinical evidence.
  • Non-small-cell lung cancer (in vitro/in vivo mechanism, 2024) — a follow-up study isolated 11 candidate anti-lung-cancer compounds (phenanthrenes, bibenzyls, glycosides, organic acids) and showed that a defined ingredient combination inhibited growth of A549/H1299 lung-cancer cell lines and Lewis lung carcinoma tumors in mice by activating an AMPK–mTOR–ULK1/BMF autophagy/apoptosis pathway. Cell and animal evidence, not clinical proof.
  • Liver cancer & quality control (2025) — a quality-evaluation study of 26 commercial batches (two trade forms, Bingqiuzi and Maocigu) identified 11 anti-liver-cancer active components and validated activity against liver-cancer cells using chemical fingerprinting plus cell-based assays, finding no significant activity difference between the two commercial forms. Preclinical/quality-control research.

  Overall, the evidence base is preclinical (cell/animal/computational) and focused on cancer-related mechanisms; no human clinical trials of Shan Ci Gu were identified in this search.

  Sources: PMID 34178945 (Frontiers in Chemistry, 2021, network pharmacology/NSCLC); PMID 39598428, DOI 10.3390/ph17111515 (Pharmaceuticals, 2024, in vitro/in vivo NSCLC mechanism); PMID 40575770, DOI 10.3389/fphar.2025.1544982 (Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2025, quality evaluation/anti-liver-cancer); Jiang et al., Arabian Journal of Chemistry review, DOI 10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.104090 (phytochemistry). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• How is Shan Ci Gu different from other nodule-dissolving herbs, and what does it combine with?

  Shan Ci Gu is grouped with the heat-clearing, toxin-resolving herbs, distinguished by its own slight toxicity and its particular strength against scrofula, goiter, and toxic-heat sores — a stronger, more toxic option than herbs like Xia Ku Cao (Prunella) or Zhe Bei Mu (Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus), which soften and disperse phlegm-nodules without the toxicity caution.

  Key combination: Shan Ci Gu is a core ingredient of the classical external/internal formula Zi Jin Ding (Purple Gold Special Pill, first recorded in the Ming-dynasty Wai Ke Zheng Zong), traditionally combined with Da Ji (Euphorbiae seu Knoxiae Radix), She Xiang (Moschus), Zhu Sha (Cinnabaris), and Xiong Huang (Realgar) for toxic-heat sores, scrofula, and snakebite. Several of that formula’s classical ingredients (cinnabar, realgar) carry their own well-known heavy-metal cautions and are frequently omitted or substituted in modern practice. (Traditional formula context, not treatment advice; this formula is not currently linked in the Sacred Lotus formula database.)

  Source: materia medica consensus (Bensky, Materia Medica, 3rd ed.; Chen & Chen); classical formula literature on Zi Jin Ding.

This herb is considered toxic