Thicket/ Day Lily

COMMON NAME: Day Lily

OTHER COMMON NAME(S): Common Orange Day Lily

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hemerocallis fulva

FAMILY: Lilaceae

COMMUNITY: Thicket

STATUS: Naturalized, native of Eurasia

LIFESPAN: Perennial

HEIGHT: 3 to 6 feet

FLOWERING TIME: Late June to July

FRUITING TIME: Early July to August

DISTRIBUTION: Ontario to North Carolina

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Spread rhizomes ~ Roots a tangle of small elongated tubers ~ Leaves basal, light green, long, sword like ~ Flowers unspotted, facing upward from top of leafless flowers talk, open 1 day only, tawny –orange color, not fragrant ~ Sepals and petals together form a funnel

GENERAL INFORMATION: This family (Liliaceae) commonly known as the Lily Family consists of 294 genera and 4,500 species of herbs and a few shrubs found mostly in temperate to tropical regions.  Lily in Latin is lilium and in Greek leirion and means “white”.   The name of this genus, Hemerocallis, is from the Greek herma meaning “a day” and callos meaning “beauty”.  This refers to the flower that opens for one day only.  The common name “Day Lily” also refers to the single day the blossom opens. The Day Lily has long been planted as an ornamental in gardens. All parts of the Day Lily are edible as salad, cooked vegetable, fritters or seasoning.  Add the early shoots to salad or prepared like asparagus.  Prepare the young flower buds like green beans or, when older, like fritters.  The fresh flowers can be used to make fritters, or withered or dried flowers can be used to season soups or stews.  The crisp snow-white tubers found early in the year can be added to salads or prepared like corn.  Older but still firm tubers can also be prepared like corn; the tubers do however, become bitter with age.

Please note: While harvesting wild berries/fruit is permitted at Island Beach State Park, visitors must adhere to park regulations at all times and must not damage vegetation or go off designated trails.  This information is presented for educational purposes.