How to Identify Daylily
Daylilies are common throughout the world as an ornamental plant. They blossom all summer long, bringing color to gardens and adorning the lawns in front of buildings and along sidewalks. The daylily plant also happens to edible, and is even grown as a vegetable in the Orient. It can be delicious if you know what parts of the plant to eat and how to prepare them.
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Instructions
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Find a garden or search around old buildings where flowers were probably once planted. Daylily plants generally do not grow wild since they are usually grown as an ornamental plant. However, they are very hearty. You might find one that was planted and left untended.
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Look for a plant with long, green, blade-like leaves that often droop. It will have a number of rigid stems upon which the flowers blossom.
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Check for yellow or orange flowers roughly 2 inches in diameter. The petals will be large, smooth and broad. The flowers blossom for only one day before they wilt on the stem. Often, the many flowers of a single plant will blossom on different days.
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Pluck the petals from the flower and eat them raw. They will have the texture of baby spinach and taste rather bland, though slightly sweet. You can also cook the flowers to improve the taste, or fry them for storage.
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Add the flowers to soups as a thickening agent.
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Dig up the tubers of the plant and eat them raw or cooked.
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Tips & Warnings
When eating any wild plant, positive identification is essential to prevent poisoning.
Eating too many raw flowers may cause diarrhea.
