Daylilies are a fairly common plant around the world. They originated in Asia and have since worked their way around the planet. Many people have cultivated them to bring additional colors and various characteristics into the line. While the new cultivars may be beautiful, not all of them are edible.
To be 100% sure you are eating an edible variety, only purchase Hemerocallis fulva, also known as wild Daylilies. You would need to thoroughly research any other variety before eating any part of the plant.
Much of the problem is because many people confuse Daylilies with Regular lilies. Daylilies are not true Lilies. They may look similar in some cases, but that is as far as it goes, they are not the same plant. In fact, most true lilies are poisonous. Many of the hybrid Dayliles you see on the market were crossed with plants that are poisonous. You must research each individual variety before eating any unknown Daylily.
Edible Part of Hemerocallis fulva
Hemerocallis fulva is the original Daylily and it is the only variety you can be 100% sure is edible. There are other edible varieties but each must be researched. The characteristics can be so similar as to make it hard to tell many of them apart.
All parts of Hemerocallis fulva are edible, however some parts taste best when young. The leaves are rarely eaten after attaining a height of about 8 inches. By then they are fairly tough and fibrous. But in the event of a zombie invasion, you could be willing to deal with the fiber. They are still edible all the way to their full length, but you might prefer to store that information away until after the invasion starts.
Three Stages of Flower Growth
Daylily gets it name from the fact the flowers only last one day, but there are two earlier stages of flower development that can also be used in food and medicine.
The smaller green flower buds are often dried and used as a food source and in various medicinal applications.
The plumper, yellow/orange buds that are getting ready to open are often dried thoroughly and used later by rehydrating to use in soups and casseroles.
The fully open flowers are often used in salads, as garnishes for cakes or other foods or stirred into soups. Simply pull the petals apart and use as you like.
Daylily Tubers
Daylilies do produce seeds and can be grown and shared that way. Its a combination of the tubers and the seeds that helps patches grow in the wild.
Each plant can produce multiple tubers (see the image below). Each of these tubers (in time) can produce another plant to replace the ones that have completed their life cycle and to help spread the patch.
There are constantly new varieties being cultivated, so I cannot guarantee there is no daylilies that make bulbs, but, true lilies do make bulbs and true lilies are poisonous. ALWAYS make sure you are buying Hemerocallis fulva. It is the ONLY one I can guarantee you will not be poisonous.
If you fine a variety of daylily you love the look of, get its botanical name and research it before assuming it is edible. Some variety have been crossed with poisonous plants to produce certain colors or ruffles in the flowers. So, assume it is poisonous until proven otherwise.
Dividing Daylilies
After a few years you will notice your daylilies have multiple smaller daylilies growing close to it (often just an inch or two away). One or two of these is fine, but when it reaches the point of having multiple new plants, and the number of flowers diminishes, it is time to divide.
Each clump needs to be dug up (gently) and each plant that has a well-established root system can be cut from the main plant WITH ITS ROOT SYSTEM and replanted in another location or given to a friend or family member to start their patch. The original plant can go right back into the ground to grow more, or you can replant one of the newer plants, and save the tubers from the older plant for eating.
When planting, make sure the crown (the place where the tubers/roots and plant meet, is no more than about 1 inch below the ground. Spread the root system out like a fan around the plant and cover with good quality soil.
Daylily Medicinal Uses
- Roots have anti-tumor benefits and are used by some herbalist to help shrink tumors.
- Flowers and leaves eaten in quantity can produce a mild laxative effect. While this is generally good to keep the bowels cleaned out, it is best to eat in small quantities till you see how they will affect you. Some people find they get an affect that goes beyond a mild laxative, especially when eaten in quantity. Some people who have had this problem has found once their body became use to eating them, the problem went away. Test, Test, Test before eat large quantities.
- Some people have reported pain relief from eating daylilies but I did not find any mention of which part produces the affect.
- Roots are used to make teas and/or tinctures to treat jaundice and bladder infections.
- Roots and flowers have antibacterial properties
- Roots and flowers have been used to treat depression.
- Flowers picked early in the morning before they open and used to make tea are considered to be a specific remedy against breast cancer in women.
When using daylilies for their medicinal benefit, eating the fresh plant is great when you have access to it. But, for times when there are no fresh plants around, try making a tincture. Leaves, roots and petals can be dried. For alcohol, you can use 95% alcohol) (190 proof) mixed half and half with water. Use about a 2 to 1 mixture of alcohol to herbs. In other words, if you use 1 cup of herb, use about 2 cups of alcohol/water mixed. Cover and allow it to sit for eat least 2 weeks, then strain and bottle in a dark colored bottle with a dropper if possible. A few drops under the tongue or added to a drink is considered a dose.
NOTE and word of warning
Not everything you read on the internet is true and sometimes it is hard to know what to believe and what needs to be researched more. While checking facts and figures for this article, I ran across a single website that states, all the daylilies with upward facing flowers are safe to eat. The one with flowers that face to the side or that face downward, are poisonous. I did not find any other mention of this on other websites.
Here’s my line of thinking. It may or may not be true. As far as assuming side and downward facing flowers are poisonous, I would say it is in your best interest to assume it is true until you find out differently through your own research.
As far as assuming all upward facing flowers are not poisonous, I would assume this is NOT true until research proves otherwise.
In both cases, it is best to err on the side of caution. We know the common daylily talked about in this article is an upward facing flower, but I do not know that all the various colors and ruffled varieties that face upward are safe.
ON the other hand, varieties with side facing and downward facing flowers I know are NOT Hemerocallis fulva and would need individual research before accepting it as safe to eat.
My other food foraging posts you might be interested in:
Foraging Wild Edible Purslane
Edible Perennial Ground Nut
Fermenting Wild Greens
Food foraging plantain weed for food and medicine
Arugula a wonder food that self sows
garlic a must have for any survival garden
how to make diy garlic oil
One big beautiful camellia bloom
food foraging chicory
food foraging flowers you can eat
Pine Needle Tea
Borage
Cattails
Wild and Mock Strawberries
Seed Bombs
Clover
Fried Dandelion Flowers Recipe
Dandelions
Food Foraging 101 – part 1
Food Foraging 101 - part 2
Food Foraging 10 1- part 3
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