Cremastra Pseudobulb shān cí gū · 山慈菇

Safety. Treat this as a toxic herb, not a gentle one. Pseudobulbs of Cremastra and Pleione have been reported to contain colchicine-type alkaloids, and colchicine poisoning — severe vomiting and diarrhoea, abdominal pain, burning throat, then multi-organ injury, bone-marrow suppression and, in reported fatal cases, circulatory collapse — has been associated with this herb and with confusion between it and other colchicine-containing plants. With colchicine the margin between an amount that acts and an amount that poisons is narrow, and there is no home management for poisoning. Strictly avoided in pregnancy (colchicine is a teratogenic-risk drug) and breastfeeding, in children, and in anyone with kidney or liver impairment or on any prescription medicine without the prescriber's knowledge. A firm, persistent lump is a matter for conventional diagnosis — this page does not suggest a herb can resolve a mass, and it does not.