Orange Day Lily

Description:

This introduced perennial plant consists of a rosette of basal leaves and flowering stalks about 3-6' tall. The basal leaves are linear with parallel venation and hairless, tapering gradually to a sword-like colony of Plants in Bloom point. The flowers are orange and quite large, spanning individually about 3½" across. They are held semi-erect or horizontally on the their stalks, rather than hanging downward. The blooming period occurs during mid-summer and lasts about a month. Each flower lasts only a single day, hence the common name. The seed capsules, if any are produced, are 3-celled and contain rows of black seeds. However, these seeds are infertile because the Orange Day Lily is a sterile hybrid. The root system consists of fleshy fibrous roots and rhizomes. This plant often forms vegetative clumps of plants that exclude other species.

Habitat:

Habitats include cemeteries and cemetery prairies, thickets and woodland borders, areas along railroads and roadsides, sites of abandoned homesteads, and old flower gardens.

Notes:

This was growing wild I moved it to my garden. Can be eaten, dig up the bulbs and transplant to clean soil away from auto pollution. The flowers may be added to a summer salad. Buds may be steamed, boiled or deep fried. Serve with butter or cheese sauce. Firm root tubers may be harvested all year. Add them raw to salads or cook like a potato.