wild edibles - the daylily

8/14/2019 Wild Edibles - The Daylily

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Wild Edibles - The Daylilyby Tactical Intelligenceon July 2nd, 2010

Disclaimer: Eating certain wild plants can be deadly!!

Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before tryingthis for yourself. The oners of this site ill not be held responsible for any lapses in !udg"ent or stupidity hen

handling or consu"ing ild plants.

The daylily (hemerocallis fulva) is a very co""on orna"ental plant that has found a ho"e in "any

yards and gardens throughout the #nited $tates. %espite its co""on occurrence, fe reali&e the

year'round food potential of this plant.

In this article Ill go into detail about ho to identify, process and eat these delicious plants.

How to Identify Daylilies

Before you atte"pt to eat any ild edible you need to be absolutely certain you can identify it ith

100 certainty. *uc+ily, daylilies, hen in floer, have no poisonous loo+'a'li+es. But to those

that only see a all of green- out there, everything loo+s ali+e. In that case here are the +ey

things to loo+ out for hen properly identifying daylilies/

6-petaled flower that faces

upwards.These are typically orange but so"e have

been bred to be different colors. In all daylilies the

floer only lasts a single day (hence the na"e )
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Leafless flower stalk that is about 3 feet tall.The

stal+ that supports the floer head ill have noleaves on it. This is a good co"parison to the Blue

lag Iris hich is poisonous and has leaves on its

floer stal+.

Liht-reen basal lea!es that are lon and sword-

like with pointed tips.

"oot is a tanle of s#all tubers.The tubers are

around pea si&e to about the si&e of a large al"ond.

If you can positively identify each of these attributes above, its pretty certain that your loo+ing at

a daylily.

How to Eat a Daylily

Eatin in the Different $easons

The great thing about daylilies is that there is alays so"ething to eat fro" this plant all year round.

In the late all and inter (as ell as all year round) you can eat the tubers (root nodules), in the$pring the young shoots are edible and delicious as a stir fry, and in the $u""er you can eat the

floer buds and the floers.


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I would reco##end waitin until $u##er to eat these as it will ha!e all of the attributes

a!ailable to #ake for an accurate identification.$ince its a perennial plant (lives longer than

to years) you can then co"e bac+ to the stand during the folloing springti"e to get the

young shoots.

If you do decide to gather the" in the $pring, care #ust be taken not to #istake the# with so#e

of the poisonous irises and lilies that e#ere around the sa#e ti#e.ne of the best ays toidentify the" is to unearth the young shoot, roots and all. 3oure loo+ing to find s"all potato'li+e

tubers ith tiny hair'li+e roots attached to the" (see the picture I too+ in the section above). If you

unearth one long, thic+ rhi&o"e ithout tubers or a single bulb, then youve got the rong plant.

What %arts to Eat

The edible portions of the plant (tubers, young shoots, floer buds and floers) can all be eaten

ra. 4oever, there have been reports that so"e people react ith nausea, vo"iting, or diarrhea 5especially if they eat a bunch of it). 6oo+ing it is supposed to help reduce these effects. Just try out

a s"all a"ount and see if you have any sy"pto"s. 7ll "y friends and fa"ily ho try this plant

have never e8perienced this.

Tubers&3oull ant to re"ove the hair'li+e roots

and thic+ rhi&o"es. ash and clean the" and boil

the" in ater for about 19 "inutes for best taste

(you can eat the" ra). $o"e people li+e to peel

the" li+e potatoes, hoever I find the s+in is !ust

fine to eat along ith the starchy centers 5 ithout

the hassle. In this picture Ive peeled so"e and leftothers ith the s+in.

'lowers&The floer have a pleasant seet taste

hen eaten ra and also can be dipped in batter and

fried.

Day-old 'lowers&The ilted floers (above'left in

the picture) can be reconstituted in soups.

'lowers (uds&Both the floer buds about to bloo"(botto" left) and those that still have a hile

(botto" right) are e8cellent in your favorite stir fry

recipe.


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)oun $hoots&The young shoots are e8cellent ra,in salads or ith dip. They are also great in stir fry.

The benefit of learning ild edibles is that it can

greatly i"prove and e8tend your long'ter" food

storage. 4eres an e8a"ple of using so"e of "y

stored rice ith so"e fresh daylily floers, stir'fried

buds, and boiled daylily tubers. 3u"":

Daylily *utrition Infor#ation%aylily floers and tubers are high in protein and oils. The floer buds are good sources of beta

carotene and vita"in 6.

+ther *otes

7lthough daylilies are an e8cellent food source, you should be aare that research done in 6hinese

laboratories have reported that there are potentially to8ic substances in the roots hich "ay be

cu"ulative. ;eep in "ind that people have been eating these plants for centuries ithout being

poisoned so use the" ith respect and in "oderation.

"elated posts&

1. ild


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Copyright 2011 Tactical Intelligence. All Rights Reserved

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3 ,o##ents

Comment by Roane

2010'0D'22 19/0/9

*i+ed the articles about edible plants

I noticed a typo in the acorn article>hen you refer to te8ture (of the flour), the spelling should

have been coarse- rather than course.-

eply to this co""ent

Comment by Tactical Intelligence

2010'0D'2@ 0/1/@0

ops "issed that one. Than+s:
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wild edibles - the daylily

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