Daylily
Daylily | |
---|---|
Hemerocallis 'Hush Little Baby' | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Xanthorrhoeaceae |
Subfamily: | Hemerocallidoideae |
Genus: | Hemerocallis |
Species | |
See text. | |
Daylily is the general nonscientific name of a species, hybrid or cultivar of the genus Hemerocallis /ˌhɛmɨroʊˈkælɪs/.[1] Daylily cultivar flowers are highly diverse in colour and form, as a result of hybridization efforts of gardening enthusiasts and professional horticulturalists. Thousands of registered cultivars are appreciated and studied by local and international Hemerocallis societies.[2] Hemerocallis is now placed in family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae, and formerly was part of Liliaceae (which includes true lilies).
Description
Hemerocallis is native to Eurasia, including China, Korea, and Japan, and this genus is popular worldwide because of the showy flowers and hardiness of many kinds. There are over 60,000 registered cultivars. Hundreds of cultivars have fragrant flowers, and more scented cultivars are appearing more frequently in northern hybridization programs. Some cultivars rebloom later in the season, particularly if their capsules, in which seeds are developing, are removed.
Most kinds of daylilies occur as clumps, each of which has leaves, a crown, flowers, and roots. The long, linear lanceolate leaves are grouped into opposite fans with arching leaves. The crown is the small white portion between the leaves and the roots. Along the scape of some kinds of daylilies, small leafy "proliferations" form at nodes or in bracts. A proliferation forms roots when planted and is often an exact clone of its parent plant. Many kinds of daylilies have thickened roots in which they store food and water.
A normal, single daylily flower has three petals and three sepals, collectively called tepals, each with a midrib in either the same or a contrasting color. The centermost part of the flower, called the throat, usually is of a different color than the more distal areas of the tepals. Each flower usually has six stamens, each with a two-lobed anther. After successful pollination, a flower forms a capsule (often erroneously called a pod).
The Tawny or Fulvous Daylily is invasive in some parts of the United States, such as in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources).[3] People sometimes plant the Fulvous Daylily and other stoloniferous daylilies, which have underground runners. These kinds can overrun one's garden and can take an appreciable amount of time and effort to confine or remove.
"The Perfect Perennial"
The daylily is often called "the perfect perennial," due to its dazzlings colors, ability to tolerate drought, capability to thrive in many zones, and low maintenance. Daylilies thrive in full sun, although certain daylilies require partial shade, depending on color. Lighter shades, such as yellow, pink, and pastels require the sun to bring out all of their color. Darker daylilies, such as some red and purple flowers, need shade because their darker colors absorb heat.
Today, daylilies come in an assortment of shades, whereas they formerly were only available in yellow, pink, fulvous, and rosy-fulvous. Now the flowers can be found in many shades of yellow, pink, red, purple, and melon. The only shades daylilies are not available in are pure blue and pure white, which hybridizers are working on.
Daylilies have a relatively short blooming period, depending on the type. There are a variety of different dayliles, some of which will bloom in early spring while others wait until the summer or even fall. Most dayliles bloom for one to five weeks, although there is a type of daylily known as a rebloomer which will bloom twice in one season.[4]
Cultivars
The Tawny Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva), and the sweet-scented Lemon-lily (H. lilioasphodelus; H. flava, old name) were early imports from England to 17th-century American gardens and soon escaped from gardens. The introduced Tawny Daylily is now common in many natural areas, and some people think that it is a native wildflower. Its nonscientific names include Railroad Daylily, Roadside Daylily, Ditch Lily, Outhouse Lily, Tiger Lily, and Wash-house Lily (although it is not a true lily). Some people have planted this species near outhouses and wash houses, hence two of its nonscientific names.
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, to 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 in forms of blue such as azure blue, cobalt blue, and sky blue. Flowers of some cultivars have small areas of cobalt blue.
In the last several decades, many hybridizers have focused on breeding tetraploid plants, which tend to have sturdier scapes and tepals than diploids and some flower-color traits that are not found in diploids. Until this trend took root, nearly all daylilies were diploid. "Tets," as they are called by aficionados, have 44 chromosomes, while triploids have 33 chromosomes and diploids have 22 chromosomes per individual plant.[5] Hemerocallis fulva 'Europa', H. fulva 'Kwanso', H. fulva 'Kwanso Variegata', H. fulva 'Kwanso Kaempfer', H. fulva var. maculata, H. fulva var. angustifolia, and H. fulva 'Flore Pleno' are all triplods that almost never produce seeds and reproduce almost solely by underground runners (stolons) and dividing groups by gardeners. A polymerous daylily flower is one with more than three sepals and more than three petals. Although some people synonymize “polymerous” with “double,” some polymerous flowers have over five times the normal number of petals.
The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
'Beloved returns'[6] | 'Green flutter[7] | 'Red precious'[8] |
'Berlin lemon'[9] | 'Helle Berlinerin'[10] | 'Royal Mountie'[11] |
'Berlin red'[12] | 'Lemon bells'[13] | 'Stoke Poges'[14] |
'Berlin red velvet'[15] | H. lilioasphodelus[16] | 'Tetrina's Daughter'[17] |
'Burning daylight'[18] | 'Marion Vaughn'[19] | 'Whichford'[20] |
'Cartwheels'[21] | 'Missenden'[22] | |
'Chief Sarcoxie'[23] | 'Neyron rose'[24] | |
'Corky'[25] | 'Nova'[26] | |
'Golden chimes'[27] | 'Pink damask'[28] |
Culinary use
The flowers of some species are edible and are used in Chinese cuisine. They are sold (fresh or dried) in Asian markets as gum jum or golden needles (金针 in Chinese; pinyin: jīn zhēn) or yellow flower vegetables (黃花菜 in Chinese; pinyin: huáng huā cài). They are used in hot and sour soup, daylily soup (金針花湯), Buddha's delight, and moo shu pork. The young green leaves and the rhizomes of some (but not all[citation needed]) species are also edible.
Species
The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognizes 18 species as of February 2012:[29]
- Hemerocallis citrina Baroni (syn. H. altissima Stout, H. coreana Nakai)
- Hemerocallis darrowiana S.Y.Hu
- Hemerocallis dumortieri E.Morren
- Hemerocallis esculenta Koidz. (syn. H. pedicellata Nakai)
- Hemerocallis forrestii Diels
- Hemerocallis fulva (L.) L. (H. sempervirens Araki, H. sendaica Ohwi and H. aurantiaca Baker are now treated as varieties of this species) – Orange Daylily, Tawny Daylily, Tiger Lily, Ditch Lily
- Hemerocallis hakuunensis Nakai (syn. H. micrantha Nakai)
- Hemerocallis hongdoensis M.G.Chung & S.S.Kang
- Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus L. (syn. H. flava (L.) L.) – Lemon Lily, Yellow Daylily
- Hemerocallis littorea Makino
- Hemerocallis middendorffii Trautv. & C.A.Mey. (includes H. exaltata Stout as H. m. var. exaltata)
- Hemerocallis minor Mill. (syn. H. sulphurea Nakai)
- Hemerocallis multiflora Stout
- Hemerocallis plicata Stapf
- Hemerocallis taeanensis S.S.Kang & M.G.Chung
- Hemerocallis thunbergii Barr (syn. H. serotina Focke, H. vespertina Hara)
- Hemerocallis yezoensis H.Hara
- Hemerocallis nana W.W.Sm. & Forrest
Two hybrids are recognized:[29]
- Hemerocallis ×exilis|Hemerocallis ×exilis Satake = H. fulva var. angustifolia × H. thunbergii
- Hemerocallis ×fallaxlittoralis|Hemerocallis ×fallaxlittoralis Konta & S.Matsumoto = H. littorea × H. thunbergii
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:[29]
- H. ×hybrida
- H. ×ochroleuca
- H. ×stoutiana
- H. ×traubara, H. ×traubiana
- H. ×washingtonia
- H. ×yeldara, H. ×yeldiana
See also
- Arlow Stout - pioneer in the hybridization of daylilies
- Siloam daylilies - over 450 daylily cultivars registered by Pauline Henry.
References
- ↑ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
- ↑ "International Daylily Groups". American Hemerocallis Society.
- ↑ "Weeds of Wisconsin" U.S. Department of Agriculture. retrieved 10-26-09.
- ↑ "Dayliles Frequently Asked Questions". American Hemerocallis Society. American Hemerocallis Society, Inc. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ↑ Daylilies undated info page at University of Nebraska. Accessed August 1, 2007.
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Beloved Returns' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Green Flutter' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Red Precious' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Berlin Lemon' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Helle Berlinerin' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Royal Mountie' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Berlin Red' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Lemon Bells' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Stoke Poges' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Berlin Red Velvet' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Tetrina's Daughter' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Burning Daylight' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Marion Vaughn' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Whichford' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Cartwheels' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Missenden' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Chief Sarcoxie' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Neyron Rose' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Corky' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Nova' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Golden Chimes' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector Hemerocallis 'Pink Damask' AGM / RHS Gardening
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2012-02-09, search for "Hemerocallis"
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hemerocallis. |
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: How to Grow Daylilies |
- The American Hemerocallis Society
- Australian Daylily Society
- Canadian Hemerocallis Society
- Ontario Daylily Society
- Hemerocallis species by the Drs. Lobeck has species, hybrids, and cultivars; links; terms and Latin meanings; images and history of hybrids
- DaylilyDB Daylily Database — Largest online collection of community submitted daylily photos, searchable by cultivar, hybridizer, color, and registration year, providing data and photos.