Witnessed by: TCM
Chinese sacred lily (Narcissus tazetta), of the Amaryllidaceae family. Bulbous perennial with strap-shaped grey-green leaves and an umbel of white flowers with a short yellow cup; native range: the Mediterranean basin, long naturalised and cultivated through China, above all in Fujian. Globally recognized as shui xian (水仙) · shui xian gen (水仙根) · shui xian hua (水仙花) in Chinese, Chinese sacred lily · paperwhite · tazetta narcissus · bunch-flowered daffodil in English, and Bulbus Narcissi Tazettae in Latin. The part used is the bulb and root; the flower. A tunicated bulb like a small onion, brown-skinned and white and mucilaginous within, acrid and bitter to the taste and biting on the tongue and lips; the flower is intensely, sweetly fragrant.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
CHINESE SACRED LILY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Chinese sacred lily
- Scientific name
- Narcissus tazetta L.
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
Form
- Part used
- the bulb and root; the flower
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter · pungent (biting, acrid on the lips)
Temperature
- TCM
- cold
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat and resolves toxicity, reduces swelling and disperses nodules, applied to the surface
Cautions
- Contraindications
- not to be taken internally; not for a cold, open sore
- Toxicity
- the bulb is poisonous. It carries lycorine and its kin: swallowed, it brings violent vomiting, purging, colic and collapse, and it has killed where it was mistaken for an onion. Even the fresh juice on the skin may raise dermatitis in the sensitive.
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