Daylily

A daylily or day lily is a flowering plant in the genus Hemerocallis ˌhɛmᵻroʊˈkælᵻs, a member of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Despite the common name, it is not in fact a lily. Gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists have long bred daylily species for their attractive flowers. Thousands of cultivars have been registered by local and international Hemerocallis societies. Daylilies are perennial plants, whose name alludes to its flowers, which typically last about a day. Hemerocallis are herbaceous clump-forming perennials growing from rhizomes, some produce spreading stolons. They have a fibrous or fibrous-tuberous root system with contractile roots. The tuberous roots are used to store nutrients and water. The arching leaves are produced from the base of the plant (basal) and lack petioles, they are strap-like, long, linear lanceolate leaves and grouped into opposite fans. The crown is the small portion between the leaves and the roots. The large showy flowers are produced on scapes. The slightly irregular shaped flowers are arranged in helicoid cymes, or produced solitarily. The scapes of some species and cultivars produce small leafy proliferations arising from the nodes or in bracts. The proliferations are clones that root when planted. Typically Hemerocallis flowers have three similar petals and three sepals, collectively called tepals, and each have a midrib. The centermost part of the flower, called the throat, may be a different color than the more distal areas of the tepals. Each flower has six stamens joined to the perianth tube, each with a two-lobed anther. The unequal stamen filaments are curved upward with the linear-oblong anthers dorsifixed. The superior ovary is green, with three chambers and the stigma is 3-lobed or capitate. The fruit is a capsule (often erroneously called a pod since botanical pods are found in Fabaceae). The fruits may have no seeds (sterile), or many relatively large, shiny, black, roundish seeds.