Orange Daylily - Hermocallis Fulva

I have grown up seeing the same orange flowered plant all over my home and the surrounding area. Affectionately, we called them ditch lilies and would pick them to give to family members when we were out and about as kids. They are hardy, persistent, and they spread!

This is where my knowledge seems to drop off.

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Orange Daylily

Do orange daylilies have value to a Permie? What roles do they fill? Potential other plants that might do what it does better?

Thank you all in advance.

Timothy Norton wrote: ...
Affectionately, we called them ditch lilies and would pick them to give to family members when we were out and about as kids. They are hardy, persistent, and they spread!
...
Do orange daylilies have value to a Permie? What roles do they fill? Potential other plants that might do what it does better?
Thank you all in advance.

It seems they're a culinary edible! I recall reading in '80 plants around the world' about wokking (or was it blanching...? Got to dig that one up ) the unopened buds.
I've been trying to find them at the garden center here, but no such luck yet.

Day lilies are eminently edible! The flowers and flower buds taste like a sweet, flower-y version of leeks, if that makes sense. Really tasty stir-fried. Other parts of the plant (tubers and young shoots in spring) are also supposed to be edible, but I don't have first-hand experience there.

One small note of caution, though: I seem to remember reading in The Forager's Harvest by Samuel Thayer that some (but not all) clones of Hemerocallis fulva specifically can induce nausea. I think he said that for clones one hasn't tried eating from before, one should exercise caution. By contrast, all clones of yellow daylilies (H. lilioasphodelus) are supposed to be safe.

Edit to say that I've personally only eaten yellow daylily (H. lilioasphodelus) because of the above. Also, I was poking around online just now and found this article, which suggests that eating the roots of at least some of the species might be a bad idea.

Severe toxicity of Hemerocallis has occasionally been reported after ingestion of root material (Xiao et al. 2010). This is probably due to the presence of stypandrol (hemerocallin) in root tissues, a neurotoxic compound also found in the related genera Stypandra and Dianella (Wang et al. 1989).  

Personally I find the wild H. "fulva" and some of the hybrids bitter tasting, particularly on the back end.  Some of the other varieties are milder. From what I've read, in Asia, where they all originate, certain species and varieties are known and propagated for food use specifically.  Incidentally, in some areas the "wild" H. fulva is often seen in a double form.

Eino Kenttä wrote: Edit to say that I've personally only eaten yellow daylily (H. lilioasphodelus) because of the above.

Colour may be a regional thing -  our edible daylilies are the simple orange ones. I have also read that the fancy colours and extra petals are from crossings which may be problematic to eat.

I use the buds in stir fries, if I can get them before the deer do! I haven't tried eating either the roots or shoots.

They do like growing along the road side ditches! People around here use them to beautify their yards. The best time to propagate from the wild is in late winter, after the ground is thawed and the plants are still dormant. I got mine from a patch about to get torn up from cable work. They are thriving and dwarfing the PW daylilies.