View source for Daylily

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{automatic taxobox
|image = Hemerocallis_lilioasphodelus.jpg
|image_caption = ''[[Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus]]''
|taxon = Hemerocallis
|authority = L.
|type_species = ''Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus ''
|type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=277620 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629083155/https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=277620 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 29, 2022 |title=''Hemerocallis'' |work=[[World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]] (WCSP) |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] }}</ref>
|synonyms = {{Specieslist
 |Lilioasphodelus|Fabr.
 |Cameraria|Boehm. in C.G.Ludwig
 }}
}}

A '''daylily''', '''day lily''' or '''ditch-lily''' is a [[flowering plant]] in the [[genus]] '''''Hemerocallis''''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|h|ɛ|m|ᵻ|r|oʊ|ˈ|k|æ|l|ᵻ|s}},<ref>''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607</ref> a member of the family [[Asphodelaceae]], subfamily [[Hemerocallidoideae]], native to Asia. Despite the [[common name]], it is not taxonomically classified in the [[lily]] genus. Gardening enthusiasts and [[horticulturists]] have long bred ''Hemerocallis'' species for their attractive [[flower]]s; a select few species of the genus have edible petals, while some are extremely toxic. Thousands of [[cultivars]] have been registered by the American Daylily Society, the only internationally recognized registrant according to the [[International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants]].<ref name="AHSint">{{cite web|url=http://www.daylilies.org/ingroups.html|title=International Daylily Groups|publisher= American Hemerocallis Society}}</ref> The plants are [[perennial]], [[Bulb|bulbous]] plants, whose common name alludes to its flowers, which typically last about a day.

== Description ==
[[Image:Lilies at Block Island IMG 1052.JPG|thumb|Daylilies on [[Block Island, Rhode Island|Block Island]], [[Rhode Island]].]]
[[Image:Hemerocallis fulva - flower view 02.jpg|thumb|The orange daylily (''[[Hemerocallis fulva]]'') in China]]

''Hemerocallis'' are herbaceous clump-forming perennials growing from rhizomes,<ref name="FNA">{{Cite web |title=Hemerocallis in Flora of North America @ efloras.org |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=114981 |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=www.efloras.org}}</ref> some produce spreading [[stolon]]s. They have a fibrous or fibrous-tuberous root system with contractile roots.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bajaj |first=Y. P. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jGrpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 |title=Plant Protoplasts and Genetic Engineering VI |date=2012-12-06 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-57840-3 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Tuber|tuberous root]]s are used to store nutrients and water. The arching leaves are produced from the base of the plant (basal) and lack [[Petiole (botany)|petioles]],<ref name="FNA"/> they are strap-like, long, linear [[lanceolate]] [[leaf|leaves]] and grouped into [[Phyllotaxis|opposite]] fans. The crown is the small portion between the leaves and the roots. The large showy flowers are produced on [[scape (botany)|scape]]s. The slightly irregular shaped flowers are arranged in helicoid cymes, or produced solitarily.<ref name="FNA"/> The scapes of some species and cultivars produce small leafy proliferations arising from the [[node (botany)|node]]s or in [[bract]]s. The proliferations are [[Cloning|clones]] that root when planted.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wyman |first=Donald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSExQDJtQ7AC&pg=PA519 |title=Wyman's Gardening Encyclopedia |date=1986 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-02-632070-2 |language=en}}</ref>

Typically ''Hemerocallis'' flowers have three similar [[petal]]s and three [[sepal]]s, collectively called [[tepals]], and each have a [[midrib]]. The centermost part of the flower, called the throat, may be a different color than the more distal areas of the tepals. Each flower has six [[stamen]]s joined to the [[perianth]] tube, each with a two-lobed [[anther]]. The unequal stamen filaments are curved upward with the linear-oblong anthers dorsifixed. The superior ovary is green, with three chambers and the stigma is 3-lobed or capitate. The fruit is a [[Capsule (fruit)|capsule]] (often erroneously called a pod since botanical pods are found in [[Fabaceae]]). The fruits may have no seeds (sterile), or many relatively large, shiny, black, roundish seeds.<ref name="FNA"/><ref name="CRC"/> The flowers of most species open in early morning and wither during the following night, possibly replaced by another one on the same [[Scape (botany)|scape]] the next day. Some species are night-blooming. The [[Ploidy|haploid]] number of chromosomes is eleven.<ref name="FNA"/>

==Taxonomy==
Despite their common name, daylilies are not true lilies (plants from the genus ''[[Lilium]]'', family Liliaceae). Although the flowers of ''Hemerocallis'' and ''Lilium'' species have a similar shape, their growth habits, stems and leaf shapes are distinctive. Before 2009, the scientific classification of daylilies put them into the family [[Liliaceae]]. In 2009, under the [[APG III system]], daylilies were removed from the family Liliaceae and assigned to the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Xanthorrhoeaceae was renamed in 2017 to Asphodelaceae in the [[APG IV system]]

=== Species ===
[[Image:Illustration Hemerocallis fulva0.jpg|thumb|''Hemerocallis fulva'', illustration of 1885]]
[[Image:Orange Lily Lilium sp Rain 2000px.jpg|thumb|The tawny daylily (''[[Hemerocallis fulva]]'')]]
[[Image:Hemerocallis-thunbergii1web.jpg|thumb|''Hemerocallis thunbergii'']]

<!--This is a list of [[species]], not of [[cultivars]], which number in the thousands:-->
{{As of|2020|January}}, ''[[Plants of the World Online]]'' recognized 16 species:<ref name=POWO_24324-1/>
* ''[[Hemerocallis citrina]]'' <small>Baroni</small> (syn. ''H. altissima'' <small>Stout</small>, ''H. coreana'' <small>Nakai</small>) - China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East
* ''[[Hemerocallis coreana]]'' <small>Nakai</small> - Japan, Korea, Shandong Province in China
* ''[[Hemerocallis darrowiana]]'' <small>S.Y.Hu</small> - Sakhalin Island in Russia
* ''[[Hemerocallis dumortieri]]'' <small>E.Morren</small> - China, Japan, Korea
* ''[[Hemerocallis forrestii]]'' <small>Diels</small> - Sichuan + Yunnan Provinces in China
* ''[[Hemerocallis fulva]]'' <small>(L.) L.</small> (''H. sempervirens'' <small>Araki</small>, ''H. sendaica'' <small>Ohwi</small> and ''H. aurantiaca'' <small>Baker</small> are now treated as varieties of this species) – orange daylily, tawny daylily, tiger lily, ditch lily - China, Japan, Korea; naturalized in Europe, North America, New Zealand, Indian Subcontinent; considered an invasive weed in some places
* ''[[Hemerocallis hakuunensis]]'' <small>Nakai</small> (syn. ''H. micrantha'' <small>Nakai</small>) - Korea; includes ''[[Hemerocallis hongdoensis]]'' <small>M.G.Chung & S.S.Kang</small>
* ''[[Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus]]'' <small>L.</small> (syn. ''H. flava'' <small>(L.) L.</small>) – lemon lily, yellow daylily - China, Mongolia, Russian Far East, Siberia, Kazakhstan; naturalized in Europe and North America
* ''[[Hemerocallis major]]'' (Baker) M.Hotta
* ''[[Hemerocallis middendorffii]]'' <small>Trautv. & C.A.Mey.</small> - China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East
: including [[Hemerocallis middendorffii var. esculenta|''H. middendorffii'' var. ''esculenta'']] <small>(Koidz.) Ohwi</small>, syn. ''H.&nbsp;esculenta'' <small>Koidz.</small> – Japan;  ''H. middendorffii'' var. ''exaltata'', syn. ''H. exaltata'' <small>Stout</small>
* ''[[Hemerocallis minor]]'' <small>Mill.</small> (syn. ''H. sulphurea'' <small>Nakai</small>) - China, Mongolia, Korea, Russian Far East, Siberia
* ''[[Hemerocallis multiflora]]'' <small>Stout</small> - Henan Province in China
* ''[[Hemerocallis nana]]'' <small>W.W.Sm. & Forrest</small> - Yunnan Province in China
* ''[[Hemerocallis plicata]]'' <small>Stapf</small> - Sichuan + Yunnan Provinces in China
* ''[[Hemerocallis thunbergii]]'' <small>Barr</small> (syn. ''H. serotina'' <small>Focke</small>, ''H. vespertina'' <small>Hara</small>) - Japan
* ''[[Hemerocallis yezoensis]]'' <small>H.Hara</small> - Japan, Kuril Islands

Two hybrids are recognized:<ref name=WCSP1202>{{Citation |title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=The Board of Trustees of the [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=277620 |access-date= July 19, 2014 }}</ref>
{{div col}}
* ''Hemerocallis'' × ''exilis'' <small>Satake</small> = ''H. fulva'' var. ''angustifolia'' × ''H. thunbergii''
* ''Hemerocallis'' × ''fallaxlittoralis'' <small>Konta & S.Matsumoto</small> = ''H. littorea'' × ''H. thunbergii''
{{div col end}}

A number of hybrid names appear in the horticultural literature but are not recognized as valid by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. These include:<ref name=WCSP1202/>
{{div col}}
* ''H.'' × ''hybrida''
* ''H.'' × ''ochroleuca''
* ''H.'' × ''stoutiana''
* ''H.'' × ''traubara'', ''H.'' × ''traubiana''
* ''H.'' × ''washingtonia''
* ''H.'' × ''yeldara'', ''H.'' × ''yeldiana''
{{div col end}}

=== Etymology ===
The name ''Hemerocallis'' comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words {{lang|grc|ἡμέρα}} (''hēmera'') "day" and {{lang|grc|καλός}} (''kalos'') "beautiful".

==Distribution and habitat==
''Hemerocallis'' species are native to [[Asia]], primarily eastern Asia, including [[China]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]] and southern [[Siberia]].<ref name="CRC">{{Cite book |last=T︠S︡velëv |first=Nikolaĭ Nikolaevich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmW-DPOAttEC&pg=PA313 |title=Flora of Russia - |date=2001-06-01 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-90-5410-754-5 |language=en}}</ref> This genus is popular worldwide because of the showy flowers and hardiness of many kinds. There are over 80,000 registered cultivars. Hundreds of cultivars have fragrant flowers, and more scented cultivars are appearing more frequently in northern hybridization programs. Some earlier blooming cultivars rebloom later in the season, particularly if their capsules, in which seeds are developing, are removed.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Daylilies have been found growing wild for millennia throughout China, [[Mongolia]], northern [[India]], Korea, and Japan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Leatherbarrow |first=Liesbeth |title=101 Best Plants for the Prairies |location=Madison, Wisconsin |publisher=Fifth House Publishers |year=1999 |isbn=978-1894004305 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/101bestplantsfor0000leat }}</ref>  There are thousand-year-old Chinese paintings showing orange daylilies that are remarkably similar to the flowers that grace modern gardens.

Daylilies may have been first brought to Europe by traders along the silk routes from Asia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Halpin |first=Anne Moyer |title=The Naming of Flowers |location=Stamford, Connecticut |publisher=Longmeadow Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0681416543}}</ref> However it was not until 1753 that daylilies were given their botanic name of ''Hemerocallis'' by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]].

Daylilies were first brought to North America by early European immigrants, who packed the roots along with other treasured possessions for the journey to the [[New World]].  By the early 1800s, the plant had become naturalized, and a bright orange clump of flowers was a common sight in many homestead gardens.

The orange or tawny daylily (''[[Hemerocallis fulva]]''), common along roadsides in much of North America, is native to Asia. Along with the lemon lily (''[[Hemerocallis flava]]''), it is the foundational species for most modern cultivars.

==Cultivation==
[[File:Ditch lilies 2025.jpg|thumb|300px|As the nickname "ditch lily" suggests, daylilies are capable of thriving with little or no human maintenance.]]
[[File:Lírio-de-um-dia, gênero Hemerocallis 07.jpg|thumb|Specimen found in Brazil]]
As popular as daylilies were for many hundreds of years, it was not until the late 19th century that botanists and gardeners began to experiment with hybridizing the plants. Over the next hundred years, thousands of different hybrids were developed from only a few wild varieties. In fact, most modern hybrids are descended from two types of daylily. One is ''Hemerocallis flava''—the yellow lemon lily. The other is ''Hemerocallis fulva'', the familiar tawny-orange daylily, also known affectionately as the "ditch lily".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cassidy |first=Frederic Gomes |title=Dictionary of American Regional English |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0681416543 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>

The daylily has been nicknamed "the perfect perennial" by gardeners, due to its brilliant colors, ability to tolerate drought and frost and to thrive in many different climate zones, and for being generally low maintenance. It is a vigorous perennial that lasts for many years in a garden, with very little care and adapts to many different soil and light conditions.<ref name="Meyer" /> Daylilies have a relatively short blooming period, depending on the type. Some will bloom in early spring while others wait until the summer or even autumn. Most daylily plants bloom for 1 through 5 weeks, although some bloom twice in one season ("rebloomers)".<ref>{{cite web|title=Dayliles Frequently Asked Questions|url=http://www.daylilies.org/AHSFAQsNew.html#time|work=American Hemerocallis Society|publisher=American Hemerocallis Society, Inc|access-date=12 June 2012}}</ref> Daylilies are not commonly used as cut flowers for formal [[florist|flower arranging]], yet they make good cut flowers otherwise, as new flowers continue to open on cut stems over several days.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

===Cultivars===
There are more than 100,000 daylily [[cultivars]], the milestone having been achieved in 2024<ref name=Meyer/> Depending on the species and cultivar, daylilies grow in USDA plant [[hardiness zone]]s 1 through 11, making them some of the more adaptable [[landscape]] plants. Hybridizers have developed the vast majority of cultivars within the last 100 years. The large-flowered, bright yellow ''Hemerocallis'' 'Hyperion', introduced in the 1920s, heralded a return to gardens of the once-dismissed daylily, and is still widely available in the nursery trade. Daylily [[plant breeding|breeding]] has been a specialty in the United States, where daylily heat- and drought-resistance made them garden standbys since the 1950s. New cultivars have sold for thousands of dollars,{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} but many sturdy and prolific cultivars sell at reasonable prices of US$20 or less.

''Hemerocallis'' is one of the very highly hybridized plant genera.  Hybridizers register hundreds of new cultivars yearly.  Hybridizers have extended the genus' color range from the yellow, orange, and pale pink of the species, through vibrant reds, purples, lavenders, greenish tones, near-black, near-white, and more. However, hybridizers have not yet been able to produce a daylily with primarily blue flowers. Flowers of some cultivars have small areas of bluish shades, particularly in the eyezones.

Other flower traits that hybridizers developed include height, scent, ruffled edges, doubling, contrasting "eyes" in the center of a bloom, fringed edges called ‘teeth’, and an illusion of glitter called "diamond dust". Sought-after improvements include rust resistance, foliage color, variegation, plant disease resistance, and the ability to form large, neat clumps. Hybridizers also seek to make cultivars cold-hardier by crossing evergreen and semi-evergreen plants with dormant varieties.   
     
In recent decades, many hybridizers have focused on breeding [[tetraploid]] plants, which tend to have sturdier scapes and tepals than diploids, as well as some flower-color traits that are not found in [[diploids]]. Until this trend took root, nearly all daylilies were diploid. Tetraploid cultivars have 44 chromosomes, while triploids have 33 chromosomes and diploids have 22 chromosomes per individual plant. Diploid and tetraploid daylilies cannot be crossed to produce new cultivars<ref name="UNL">[http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=204 Daylilies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106125800/http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=204 |date=2007-11-06 }} undated info page at [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]]. Accessed August 1, 2007.</ref> ''Hemerocallis fulva'' 'Europa', ''H.&nbsp;fulva'' 'Kwanso', ''H.&nbsp;fulva'' 'Kwanso Variegata',  ''H.&nbsp;fulva'' 'Kwanso Kaempfer', ''H.&nbsp;fulva'' var. ''maculata'', ''H.&nbsp;fulva'' var. ''angustifolia'', and ''H.&nbsp;fulva'' 'Flore Pleno' are all triploids that almost never produce seeds and reproduce almost solely by underground runners ([[stolon]]s) and dividing groups by gardeners. A polymerous daylily flower is one with more than three sepals and more than three petals.  Although some people{{who|date=February 2015}} synonymize "polymerous" with "double", some polymerous flowers have as many as twice the normal number of sepals and petals.

Formerly daylilies were only available in yellow, pink, fulvous (bronzed), and rosy-fulvous colors, now they come in an assortment of many more color shades and tints thanks to intensive hybridization. They can now be found in nearly every color except pure blue and pure white. Those with yellow, pink, and other pastel flowers may require full sun to bring out all of their colors; darker varieties, including many of those with red and purple flowers are not colorfast in bright sun.
<gallery>
Daylily -- Hemerocallis 'Ruby Spider'.jpg|''H.'' 'Ruby Spider'
Orange Daylily.jpg|''H.'' 'Kwanzo' – a triple-flowered [[triploid]] [[cultivar]]
RedDaylily.jpg|''H.'' 'Red Magic'
Daylily -- Hemerocallis 'Wayside King Royale'.jpg|''H.'' 'Wayside King Royale'
Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus flower.jpg|A ''Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus'' cultivar growing in Venezuela
</gallery>

==== Awards ====
The highest award a cultivar can receive in the United States is the Stout Silver Medal, given in memory of Dr. Arlow Burdette Stout, who is considered to be the father of modern daylily breeding in North America. This annual award—as voted by American Hemerocallis Society (AHS) Garden judges—can be given only to a cultivar that has first received the Award of Merit not less than two years previously. The 2014 winner of the Stout Silver Medal is 'Webster's Pink Wonder', hybridized by Richard Webster and introduced by R.&nbsp;Cobb. A complete list of Stout Silver Medal winners can be seen on the AHS website.<ref>{{cite web |date=2023 |title=Stout Silver Medal |url=https://daylilies.org/awards/stout-silver-metal/ |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=American Daylily Society}}</ref>

In the UK the following cultivars have gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]]:<ref>{{cite web  | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 47 
| publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 3 March 2018}}</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* 'All American Chief'
* 'Always Afternoon'
* 'Arctic Snow'
* 'Asterisk'
* 'August Frost'
* 'Beauty to Behold'
* 'Burning Daylight'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/76072/i-Hemerocallis-i-Burning-Daylight/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Hemerocallis'' 'Burning Daylight' | access-date = 2 March 2018}}</ref> 
* 'Cat Dancer'
* 'Cayenne'
* 'Cherry Eyed Pumpkin'
* ''H. citrina'' 
* 'Condilla'
* 'Curly Cinnamon Windmill'
* 'Custard Candy'
* 'Eggplant Escapade'
* 'Elegant Candy'
* 'Fooled Me'
* 'Grey Witch'
* 'Holly Dancer'
* 'Jamaican Me Crazy'
* 'Jellyfish Jealousy'
* 'Julie Newmar'
* 'Karen's Curls'
* 'Killer'
* 'Lady Neva'
* 'Lime Frost'
* 'Mahogany Magic'
* 'Mary's Gold'
* 'Moonlit Masquerade'
* 'North Wind Dancer'
* 'Old Tangiers'
* 'Performance Anxiety'
* ‘Pink Damask’<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/89831/i-Hemerocallis-i-Pink-Damask/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Hemerocallis'' 'Pink Damask'
| access-date = 2 March 2018}}</ref> 
* 'Primal Scream'
* 'Radiant Moonbeam'
* ’Red Precious’<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/98037/i-Hemerocallis-i-Red-Precious/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Hemerocallis'' 'Red Precious' | access-date = 2 March 2018}}</ref> 
* 'Ruby Spider'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/181143/i-Hemerocallis-i-Ruby-Spider/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Hemerocallis'' 'Ruby Spider' | access-date = 2 March 2018}}</ref> 
* 'Running Late'
* 'Russian Rhapsody'
* 'Selma Longlegs'
* 'Serena Sunburst'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/47592/i-Hemerocallis-i-Serena-Sunburst/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Hemerocallis'' 'Serena Sunburst' | access-date = 2 March 2018}}</ref> 
* 'Sir Modred'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/170533/i-Hemerocallis-i-Sir-Modred/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Hemerocallis'' 'Sir Modred' | access-date = 2 March 2018}}</ref> 
* 'Spider Man'
* 'Stafford'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/99494/i-Hemerocallis-i-Stafford/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Hemerocallis'' 'Stafford' | access-date = 2 March 2018}}</ref> 
* 'Strawberry Candy'
* 'Tuxedo Junction'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/328115/Hemerocallis-Tuxedo-Junction/Details
| title = ''Hemerocallis'' 'Tuxedo Junction' | publisher = RHS | access-date = 16 January 2020}}</ref> 
{{div col end}}

=== Pests and diseases ===
''[[Contarinia quinquenotata]]'', commonly known as the daylily gall [[midge]], is a small gray insect infesting the flower buds of ''Hemerocallis'' species causing the flower to remain closed and rot.<ref name="AHS">{{cite web |title=Hemerocallis Gall Midge |url=http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_dictionary/gallmidge.html |access-date=5 May 2019 |publisher=American Hemerocallis Society}}</ref> It is a pest within the horticultural trade in several parts of the world, including Southern and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.<ref>{{cite web |date=2014 |title=Continaria quinquenotata |url=http://www.pestalert.org/viewArchPestAlert.cfm?rid=68 |access-date=5 May 2019 |work=Phytosanitary Alert System |publisher=North American Plant Protection Organization |archive-date=15 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915041734/http://www.pestalert.org/viewArchPestAlert.cfm?rid=68 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Toxicity==
Eating too many uncooked flowers of some species can cause diarrhea.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]] |others=[[United States Department of the Army]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60239-692-0 |location=New York |pages=51 |language=en-US |oclc=277203364}}</ref> ''Hemerocallis'' species are toxic to [[cats]] and ingestion may be fatal. Treatment is usually successful if started before [[kidney failure]] has developed.<ref name="Fitz10">{{Cite journal |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=K.T. |date=2010 |title=Lily toxicity in the cat |journal=Topics in Companion Animal Medicine |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=213–217 |doi=10.1053/j.tcam.2010.09.006 |pmid=21147474}}</ref>

==Uses==
[[Image:Dry Day Lily.jpg|thumb|Dried golden needles]]

Daylilies are an economically important group of plants used medicinally, as food, and as horticultural plants. They have been cultivated in East Asia starting in China for thousands of years.<ref name="FNA"/> Hemerocallin, a root [[neurotoxin]], has been used as poison and therapeutically as part of traditional oriental [[medicine]].<ref name="FNA"/> Some flowers of certain species such as ''[[Hemerocallis citrina]]'' are used in [[Chinese cuisine]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://frps.eflora.cn/frps/Hemerocallis%20citrina |title=Hemerocallis citrina |access-date=2016-02-01 |archive-date=2015-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711010703/http://frps.eflora.cn/frps/Hemerocallis%20citrina |url-status=dead }}</ref> They are sold fresh or dried in [[Asian supermarket|Asian markets]] as '''gum jum''' ([[wiktionary:金针|金针]] in [[Chinese language|Chinese]]; pinyin: jīn zhēn) or '''yellow flower vegetables''' ([[wiktionary: 黄花菜|黃花菜]] in [[Chinese language|Chinese]]; pinyin: huáng huā cài). These are used in [[hot and sour soup]], daylily soup (金針花湯), [[Buddha's delight]], and [[moo shu pork]]. The tubers and young leaves of ''H.&nbsp;fulva'' can be eaten raw or cooked. The flowers are more palatable upon cooking. <ref name=":0" /> 

Moreover, Daylilies are among the most popular North American garden plants. Registered cultivars of ''Hemerocallis'' now exceed 38,000, including more than 13,000 named clones of ''H.&nbsp;fulva''.<ref>G. Grosvenor 1999; R. M. Kitchingman 1985; R. W. Munson Jr. 1989; W. B. Zomlefer 1998.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Arlow Stout]] – pioneer in the hybridization of daylilies
* ''[[Contarinia quinquenotata]]'' – daylily gall midge
* [[Hemerocallis 'Duke of Durham'|''Hemerocallis'' 'Duke of Durham']]
* [[Siloam daylilies]] – over 450 daylily cultivars registered by Pauline Henry.
* [[List of plants known as lily]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Meyer>{{cite web|url=http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/flowers/growing-daylilies/|title=Growing daylilies}}</ref>

<ref name=POWO_24324-1>{{cite web |title=''Hemerocallis'' L. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:24324-1 |access-date=2020-01-16 }}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies|Hemerocallis}}
{{Wikibooks|How to Grow Daylilies}}
* {{Tropicos}}
* [http://www.hemerocallis-species.com/HS/HS_homee.htm Hemerocallis species] by the Drs. Plodeck has species, hybrids, and cultivars; links; terms and Latin meanings; images and history of hybrids
* [http://daylilydiary.com Charlotte's Daylily Diary] Charlotte Chamitoff's Daylily Diary is a wealth of information on growing daylilies and daylily hybridizing. The website is full of daylily images and information about individual hybridizers.

=== Daylily societies ===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [http://www.daylilies.org The American Hemerocallis Society]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080509155055/http://www.australiandaylily.com/ Australian Daylily Society]
* [http://www.distinctly.on.ca/chs/ Canadian Hemerocallis Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126203337/http://www.distinctly.on.ca/chs/ |date=2012-01-26 }}
* [http://www.ncdcwebsite.com/ National Capital Daylily Club] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113041457/http://www.ncdcwebsite.com/ |date=2016-11-13 }}
* [http://www.fairyscapedaylilies.com/NVDS.htm Northern Virginia Daylily Society]
* [http://www.ontariodaylily.on.ca Ontario Daylily Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321192716/http://www.ontariodaylily.on.ca/ |date=2019-03-21 }}
* [http://ahsregion4.org Region 4 of the American Hemerocallis Society]
* [http://www.hostahem.org.uk The British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society]
* [http://www.columbusdaylilies.org The Metropolitan Columbus Daylily Society]
{{div col end}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q156275}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Asphodelaceae genera]]
[[Category:Hemerocallis| ]]
[[Category:Inflorescence vegetables]]
[[Category:Root vegetables]]
[[Category:Leaf vegetables]]