Fritillaria is a genus of about 100 species of bulbous plants in the family Liliaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They often have nodding, bell- or cup-shaped flowers, and the majority are spring-flowering. The name is from Latinfritillus, a dice-box, and probably refers to the checkered pattern, frequently of chocolate-brown and greenish yellow, that is common to many species' flowers.
Several species (such as Fritillaria cirrhosa and Fritillaria verticillata) are used in traditional Chinese cough remedies. They are listed as chuan bei (Chinese: 川貝) or zhe bei (Chinese: 浙貝), respectively, and are often in formulations combined with extracts of loquat.
