Common Day Lily

Overview

Hemerocallis fulva is native to East Asia mostly China. It is cultivated in China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Vietnam, Japan, and in many temperate and subtropical countries. It is grown as an ornamental plant for its showy flowers and ease of cultivation.The genus name Hemerocallis, is derived from two Greek words, hemeros, meaning ‘day’, and kallos, meaning ‘beauty’, referring the beautiful flowers that only last one day. The species name, fulva, refers to the colors – deep yellow, orangish, or tawny. The plant is harvested from the wild for use as a food, medicine and source of materials. All parts of the daylily are edible. Buds or new flowers are frequently cooked and eaten in China and Japan. In addition, the rhizomes can be chopped and cooked like potatoes, and are said to be as sweet as sweet corn. The leaves are known to contain hallucinogenic properties. The tuberous roots have a nutlike flavor, and can be eaten raw or roasted. The tough dried foliage is plaited into cord and used for making footwear.

Vernacular Names

Hémérocalle fauve (French),  Bahnwärter-Taglilie (German), Giglio Di San Giuseppe (Italian), Heutowanchuri (Korean), DtôN-Jam-Chàai (Thai), Hoa hiên, (Vietnamese), Akino-wasuregusa (Japanese), Xuan cao (Chinese).

Agroecology

It occurs in forests, thickets, grasslands, streamsides; at elevations from 300-2,500 m. This species is hardy to about -20 °C. Succeeds in most soils, including dry ones, though it prefers a rich moist soil and a sunny position but tolerating partial shade. Plants flower less freely in a shady position though the flowers can last longer in such a position. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Succeeds in short grass if the soil is moist. Prefers a pH between 6 and 7.

Morphology

• Root - develops rhizomes (horizontal underground stems) and fleshy, tuberous, spindle-shaped roots, with thinner, fibrous roots growing from both to form a dense system.
• Stem - smooth, round, leafless and branched at the top.
• Leaves - long, linear, strap-like, bright-green, 50–90 cm long and 1–2.8 cm broad and curve toward the ground.
• Flower - large, showy, each flower consists of 6 orange tepals (3 petals and 3 sepals that are similar in appearance) that are united at the base, but spread outward and backward toward their tips. The 3 inner tepals are somewhat broader than the 3 outer tepals. The margins of each tepal are rolled. The throat of the flower is yellow, around which there is a band of red, while the remainder of the flower is some shade of orange, usually with some striping; occur in clusters of 5-9 at the tip of the stalk; flowers in a cluster open one at a time, each for one day only.
• Fruit - capsule ellipsoid, 3-valved, 2–2.5 cm long and 1.2–1.5 cm wide dehisces at maturity to release the seeds.
• Seed - black seeds.

Cultivation

• Generative propagation is by seed - sow in the middle of spring in a greenhouse. Germination is usually fairly rapid and good. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Grow the plants on for their first winter in a greenhouse and plant out in late spring. 
• Vegetative propagation is by division of rhizomes and clumps. Division is very quick and easy, succeeding at almost any time of the year. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Chemical Constituents

Hydroxy glutamic acid, chrysophanol, colchicine, rhein, anthraquinone,9 glycosides (sweroside, laganin, picraquassioside C, puerarin, 3'-methoxypuerarin, 7-hydro xylnaphthalide-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, orcinol-3-O-beta-glucopyranoside, HN saponin F, hederagenin-3-0-beta D-glucopyranosyl-(1-3)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside-28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester).

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Plant has diuretic, febrifuge, laxative properties.
• Flowers are anodyne, antiemetic, antispasmodic, depurative, febrifuge and sedative. Flower extract is used as blood purifier and as an anodyne for women in childbirth in China.
• Tea made from boiled rhizomes is used as a diuretic.
• Rhizome has a folk history of use in the treatment of cancer.
• Juice from the rhizome is used as an antidote in cases of arsenic poisoning.
• In Korea, the rhizome is used to treat oppilation, jaundice, constipation and pneumonia and has antimicrobial, tuberculostatic and anthelmintic activity against parasitic worms that cause filariasis.