Yellow Daylily

Scientific name: Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus

Fact Box:

Order: Asparagales
Family: Xanthorrhoeaceae
Genus: Hemerocallis
Species: H. lilioasphodelus

INTRODUCTION

The yellow daylily gives off a sweet lemon fragrance and is native to some parts of Europe and Asia. Also called lemon daylily or lemon lily, the flower’s genus Hemerocallis comes from the Greek words hemera, or day, and kallos, or beauty.

To tell “true” lilies and daylilies apart, use this tip: true lilies normally have a single stem standing upright, while daylilies generally have several stems growing from one place on the ground.

A “true” lily normally has one stem coming from the ground. (Source: Wikipedia)

Daylily stems generally grow in clusters. (Source: Public Domain Pictures)

USES

You can eat the buds and tubers of the yellow daylily after they are cooked, although some people are allergic to this delicacy. In China and Japan, the daylily’s flowers are also used in cooking, boiled and mixed into soups as thickeners. Some brew tea from the daylily plant; others use the daylily as a traditional cure for cancer.