Daylily

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The daylily (Hemerocallis L.) is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Hemerocallidaceae.

Hemerocallis fulva, the Tawny Daylily and H. flava, the Lemon Lily, were early imports from England to 17th century American gardens that soon established themselves along roadsides. The Tawny Daylily especially is so widely feral that it is often mistaken for a native American wildflower.

The name Hemerocallis is based on the Greek words for day and beauty, which reflects the fact that the individual flowers last for only one day.

Originally from Eurasia, native from Europe to China, Korea, and Japan, their large showy flowers have made them popular worldwide, and there are over 60,000 registered named cultivars.

The alternating lanceolate, alternating leaves are grouped into fans (a clump also containing the roots and the crown). The crown of a daylily is the small white portion of the stem, between the leaves and the roots. This crown is an essential part of the fan. Along the scape, proliferations may form in nodes or bracts. These proliferations form roots when planted and are the exact clones of the parent plant. Some daylilies show spindlelike widenings at the roots, used mostly for water storage.

The flower consists of three petals and three sepals, each with a midrib in the same or in a contrasting color. The centermost section of the flower, called 'the throat', has usually a different and contrasting color. There are six stamens, each with a two-lobed anther. After pollination, the flower forms a pod.

Daylilies can be grown in gardening zones 1 through 11 making them some of the most adaptable landscape plants. Most all of the cultivars have been developed within the 100 years.The large-flowered clear yellow 'Hyperion', introduced in the 1920's, heralded a return to gardens of the once-dismissed daylily and is still widely available. Daylily breeding has been a specialty above all in the United States, where the heat- and drought-resistant qualities of Hemerocallis made them garden stand-bys during the later 20th century. New cultivar introductions have sold for thousands of dollars. To learn nore about daylilies go to the American Hemerocallis Society website.http://www.daylilies.org/

The flowers are edible and are sold in oriental markets as golden needles. The young green leaves and the tubers are also edible. The plant has also been used for medicinal purposes. Please note not all varieties of daylily roots are edible.

Species

• Hemerocallis altissima Stout
• Hemerocallis aurantiaca Baker
• Hemerocallis citrina Baroni
• Hemerocallis cordata C.P.Thunberg ex A.Murray
• Hemerocallis coreana Nakai
• Hemerocallis darrowiana S.Y.Hu
• Hemerocallis dumortierii Morr
• Hemerocallis esculenta Koidz.
• Hemerocallis exaltata Stout
• Hemerocallis × exilis Satake
• Hemerocallis flava L : Lemon Lily

• Hemerocallis forrestii Diels
• Hemerocallis fulva L. : Tawny Dailily
• Hemerocallis hakuunensis Nakai
• Hemerocallis hongdoensis M.G.Chung & S.S.Kang
• Hemerocallis × hybrida (Hort.)
• Hemerocallis japonica C.P.Thunberg ex A.Murray
• Hemerocallis lilio-asphodelus L
• Hemerocallis littorea Makino
• Hemerocallis micrantha Nakai
• Hemerocallis middendorffii Trautv. & Mey.
• Hemerocallis minor Mill.
• Hemerocallis multiflora Stout
• Hemerocallis nana W.W.Sm. & Forrest

• Hemerocallis × ochroleuca (Hort. ex Bergmans)
• Hemerocallis pedicellata Nakai
• Hemerocallis plicata Stapf
• Hemerocallis sempervirens Araki
• Hemerocallis sendaica Ohwi
• Hemerocallis serotina Focke
• Hemerocallis × stoutiana Traub (Hort.)
• Hemerocallis sulphurea Nakai
• Hemerocallis taeanensis S.S.Kang & M.G.Chung
• Hemerocallis thunbergii Baker
• Hemerocallis × traubara Moldenke (Hort.)
• Hemerocallis × traubiana Moldenke (Hort.)
• Hemerocallis vespertina Hara
• Hemerocallis washingtonia Traub
• Hemerocallis × yeldara Traub (Hort.)
• Hemerocallis × yeldiana Traub (Hort.)
• Hemerocallis yezoensis Hara