Orange daylily is a perennial lily with stout, fleshy roots, straplike leaves, and tall flower stalks that don't branch below the inflorescence.
The flowers are terminal on branched stalks, erect, with 3 sepals and 3 petals of dull orange color, the sepals slightly smaller, spreading, to 3½ inches long. Each flower lasts only one day. Blooms May–August.
The leaves are basal, narrow, straplike, hairless, somewhat folded lengthwise, to about 2 feet long.
Similar species: Yellow daylily (H. lilioasphodelus) is also commonly cultivated as an ornamental in Missouri, but so far it has not become established outside of cultivation in the state. In cultivation, a multitude of varieties have been developed in a bewildering array of colors and forms.
Height: about 3 feet.
Statewide.
Habitat and Conservation
Found along roads, disturbed stream banks, railroads, fields, pastures, old cemeteries, abandoned homes, and waste places. Native of Eurasia.
Old-fashioned ornamentals, daylilies were widely planted by early settlers. The various cultivated varieties remain popular as landscaping plants. The orange species on this page is tough and withstands harsh, hot conditions and poor soils.
This species is sterile and has escaped from cultivation coast to coast by root divisions. Today there are thousands of garden hybrids, but strangely, none of those have been reported as escaped into the wild.
Status
Nonnative flower, naturalized or persisting in many places.
Human Connections
The flowers are rich in protein and are eaten in China; they can be fried or broiled much like squash blossoms or used as a flavoring in soups. The roots can be eaten raw or cooked and are said to taste like salsify.
The American Daylily Society (also called the American Hemerocallis Society) has thousands of members who enjoy, study, and cultivate daylilies in all their colors and forms. The Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis has a section devoted entirely to daylilies; visit it in June and July to see hundreds of varieties in bloom.
Ecosystem Connections
Nonnative plants such as daylilies have little function in Missouri's natural communities. Neither insects nor diseases bother these plants. Plants that are not eaten by insects do not serve as a foundation of the food web. Many insects, including many pollinators, are declining because habitat for their natural food plants is disappearing. Birds rely on plentiful insects to feed their growing chicks. This is a big reason why many gardeners are switching to native plants, which feed insects and expand habitat for wildlife, instead of nonnative ones, which native herbivores avoid.
Where this plant becomes established, it spreads by its roots and forms dense clumps that can outcompete other plants. It can be difficult to eradicate, since its leaves resist weedkillers, and new plants arise from small portions of roots that can be missed by digging.
