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Hemerocallis

(Genus)

Herbs, perennial, scapose, clump-forming, rhizomatous, from fibrous or fleshy contractile roots often enlarged at ends; rhizomes spreading. Leaves many, basal, sessile, 2-ranked, bases sheathing; blade long-linear, keeled, apex acuminate. Inflorescences 2, in terminal helicoid cyme, or solitary. Flowers mostly diurnal and ephemeral, slightly irregular, showy; tepals 6, connate basally into short, funnelform to campanulate tube, distinct parts imbricate, spreading, inner broader than outer; stamens 6, adnate to throat of perianth tube; filaments curved upward, distinct, unequal; anthers dorsifixed, 2-locular, linear-oblong, dehiscence introrse; ovary superior, green, 3-locular, conic, septal nectaries present; style curved upwards; stigma indistinctly 3-lobed or capitate. Fruits capsular, leathery, dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds rarely produced (sterile) or many. x = 11.

Species 15-30: introduced; temperate zones worldwide; temperate e Asia.

Hemerocallis is important economically as medicinal, poisonous, edible, and/or horticultural plants, which have been in Chinese culture for thousands of years (W. Erhardt 1992) . Hemerocallin, a root neurotoxin, can be both poisonous and useful medicinally as an analgesic, diuretic, arsenic-poisoning antidote, and treatment for schistosomiasis (J. A. Duke and E. S. Ayensu 1985; W. Erhardt 1992; Hu S. Y. 1968) . In Asia, flowers (buds and perianths), shoots, and tuberous roots (following suitable preparation) are important foods (G. Kunkel 1984) . Daylilies are among the most popular North American garden plants. Registered cultivars of Hemerocallis now exceed 38,000, including more than 13,000 named clones of H. fulva (G. Grosvenor 1999; R. M. Kitchingman 1985; R. W. Munson Jr. 1989; W. B. Zomlefer 1998) .

Hemerocallis has been included in a broadly circumscribed segregate family Hemerocallidaceae with 13-18 genera mainly from the Southern Hemisphere, especially Australia (W. B. Zomlefer 1998; H. T. Clifford et al. 1998), or placed alone in a monotypic Hemerocallidaceae (A. L. Takhtajan 1997) . The dwarf, yellow-flowered Hemerocallis minor P. Miller, grass-leaf daylily, has been reported as a local escape in Oregon.[1]

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Taxonomy

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  • Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
    • Kingdom: Plantae Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
      • Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae Cavalier-Smith, 1981 - Green Plants
        • Phylum: Magnoliophyta Cronquist, Takhtajan & W. Zimmermann, 1966 - Flowering Plants
          • Subphylum: Spermatophytina (auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Seed Plants
            • Infraphylum: Angiospermae auct.
              • Class: Liliopsida Scopoli, 1760 - Monocotyledons
                • Subclass: Liliidae Takhtajan, 1967
                  • Superorder: Lilianae Takhtajan, 1967
                    • Order: Amaryllidales Bromhead, 1840
                      • Family: Hemerocallidaceae (hem err oh kal ahh DAY see eye) R. Brown, 1810 - Day Lilies
                        • Genus: Hemerocallis (hem-er-oh-KAL-iss) Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 324. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 151. 1754. - Daylily [Greek hemeros, day, and kallos, beauty, alluding to the showy flowers, which bloom and wilt in one day]

The Genus Hemerocallis is further organized into finer groupings including: