- Type
- Leafy Greens
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Season
- Spring·Summer
- Sowing
- Transplant
Daylily
Hemerocallis fulva
Carotenoids · a spring green that must be blanched and soaked
The daylily is a hardy perennial, and what gets eaten are the young shoots that come up in spring, overlapping from the base like a folded fan. Once established the clump thickens year after year and holds up well at the edge of a city plot or a border. What is eaten stops at the newly emerged spring shoots and at flowers and flower buds that have been cooked. The shoots must be boiled, then soaked in cold water for two hours or more, with the water changed, before cooking; flowers and buds are likewise blanched rather than used raw. Mature leaves and the roots are not eaten. The greatest care when digging in the hills goes to two other plants: yeoro (Veratrum maackii) and baksae (Veratrum oxysepalum). Their young shoots are dug as daylily every spring by mistake. Daylily shoots rise from the base in two flat overlapping ranks that form a fan, with a smooth blade, while Veratrum leaves clasp the stem and alternate up it, and the blade carries pronounced parallel pleats. If there is any doubt at all, leave the plant. The Donguibogam lists the plant in the Herb section as 萱草根, giving it a cool nature and a sweet taste with no toxicity, and recording that people plant it at home and gather the young shoots to boil and eat, and that the flower base is pickled, with the alternative names 鹿葱, 宜男 and 忘憂草 appearing alongside.
Year-Round Calendar
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Where It Grows
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Main producer
China produces dried flower buds — the product known as huanghuacai — in large quantities. Qidong in Hunan and Datong in Shanxi are famous growing areas. What is grown there, however, is the citron daylily (Hemerocallis citrina), a different species from the tawny daylily. Harvest June, July, August
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Major producer
It grows wild in the mountains and fields and is also planted along field banks and in flower beds. The young shoots that have just come up in spring are used as namul. Harvest April, May
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- Wild population It grows wild from Honshu southward under the names nokanzo and yabukanzo, and in Okinawa the flower buds are eaten.
Native to temperate East Asia, it grows wild across Korea, China, and Japan. As an ornamental it has spread widely through gardens in North America and Europe, but since that is not food production, those regions are not counted among the growing areas. Which part is eaten differs by country: Korea uses the young spring shoots and China the dried flower buds, and what China grows on a large scale is the citron daylily, a different species from the tawny daylily (Hemerocallis fulva).
- Optimum
- 15~25℃
- Range
- 5~32℃
- Hardiness
- Hardy
A perennial that stands up to both cold and drought. The above-ground parts die back with frost, and the plant overwinters on its thick roots. When the young shoots come up is set by spring temperatures, and once the weather warms the leaves quickly toughen, so the window for using them as namul (Korean seasoned greens) is short.
Harvested 2–2 years after planting. If you plant divisions in spring, you leave them alone that year and start picking young shoots the following spring. The month of planting and the month of picking are not in the same year. Once established, the plant comes up every year, and every three or four years the clumps are divided and replanted.
In Korea Nationwide
Common in mountains, fields, and along field banks throughout the country. Even in mountain areas with cold winters it comes through well on its roots.
How to grow
- Light
- Full sun is best, though it grows in partial shade. Deep shade costs you flowers
- Soil and depth
- Not fussy about soil. Avoid spots where water stands, and work in some organic matter
- Spacing
- 40 to 50cm between clumps. They widen every year, so leave room from the start
- Watering
- Thick roots make it drought-hardy. Keep it moist only in the first year and through the spring shoot flush
- Feeding
- A spadeful of well-rotted compost over the crown in early spring before growth starts. Little else is needed
- Harvest
- Cut newly emerged shoots at the base in April and May, while they are under a hand's span. Take no more than half from any clump so the plant carries the season. Once the leaves turn coarse, the harvest is finished
What makes the difference. Blanch the shoots in boiling water the same day you pick them, then soak them through two or three changes of cold water before cooking. Discard that water. Not skipping this step is essentially the whole discipline of eating daylily
Why this one is harder. After three or four years the centre of the clump goes hollow and both flowers and shoots shrink. Lift the clump in autumn or early spring, split it into pieces carrying three or four buds each, and replant
Common problems
- Aphids You will see Colonies on flower stems and buds; buds fail to open What to do Wash off with a jet of water; if it recurs, spray egg-yolk oil. Use no spray at all on shoots destined for the kitchen
- Daylily rust You will see Rows of orange, powdery spots on the leaf undersides What to do Pick affected leaves and take them off the plot, and clear every dead leaf in autumn. Widen the clumps for airflow
- Slugs You will see Ragged edges on young shoots with silvery trails What to do Search around the crown the morning after rain, and lay a board to collect the ones that gather beneath it
This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.
Health Benefits
What the Donguibogam records — nature, taste, names and cooking. The Donguibogam lists the plant in the Herb section as 萱草根. It gives a cool nature and a sweet taste, with no toxicity. It records that people plant it around the house and gather the young shoots in quantity to boil and eat, and that the flower base is taken and pickled. The alternative name 鹿葱 appears, along with the note that the flower is called 宜男, and the epithet 忘憂草 drawn from the Yangsaengnon. The one point where the old text overlaps with today's practice is that it too says the shoots are boiled; the rest is a historical medical record and differs from modern medical judgment.
Reports on colchicine-type compounds. Colchicine-type alkaloids are reported in daylily, with the concern rising as leaves mature and towards the root. Korean food safety guidance advises using only the young shoots, boiling them and soaking them thoroughly in cold water before cooking. This concerns composition and preparation and has no bearing on preventing or treating disease.
Nutrition
- Water and dietary fibre (young shoots are mostly water) — the volume collapses on blanching
- Carotenoids (the orange and yellow pigments of the petals) — the pigment class behind the flower colour
- Colchicine-type alkaloids (reported in mature leaves and roots) — a compound class reported as toxic, and the reason the edible part and its preparation are strictly defined
Composition of the young shoot, and blanching Daylily shoots are largely water, with dietary fibre and a little sugar making up the rest. Boiling drops the volume to under a third, so a basketful becomes a plateful. After boiling, soak the shoots in several changes of cold water for two hours or more; this step is a safety measure, not a matter of taste. Throw the soaking water away.
Flower pigments The orange and yellow of daylily flowers come from carotenoid pigments. Dried flower buds have long been used in China under the name golden needle vegetable, and the old Korean record likewise describes pickling the flower base. Flowers, too, are cooked rather than eaten raw. Never use flowers from an ornamental bed that may have been sprayed.
Where the edible part stops Colchicine-type alkaloids are reported in daylily, and the concern grows as leaves mature and is greatest towards the root. That is why the edible part is limited to newly emerged spring shoots, and why even those are boiled and soaked. Once the leaves pass a hand's span and turn coarse, the season is over. The root is not an edible part.
Pairings
○ Dressed with doenjang — Blanched and soaked shoots are mild, which suits a soybean-paste dressing. Squeeze out the water, then dress with a little doenjang and minced garlic. Season heavily and you lose the slippery texture that makes the dish.
○ Perilla oil and sesame — Blanched shoots stir-fried in perilla oil pick up a nutty aroma. Finish with ground sesame. Keep the cooking short so the shoots keep some bite.
○ Clear soup — Soaked shoots cut short soften nicely in a clear broth. Add them once the soup is at a boil and give it one more brief lift. Use blanched and soaked shoots here too, never raw ones.
△ Mistaking Veratrum for daylily — Every spring, shoots of yeoro (Veratrum maackii) and baksae (Veratrum oxysepalum) are dug alongside daylily by mistake. Both carry alkaloids reported as toxic, so learn them by name before digging. Daylily rises from the base in two flat overlapping ranks that spread like a fan, with a smooth blade. Veratrum leaves clasp the stem and alternate up it, the blade carries pronounced parallel pleats, and on yeoro the base is wrapped in the net-like fibre of old leaf sheaths. Unfold one leaf, and if certainty does not follow, leave the plant.
△ Blanching without the soak — Boiling is not the end of the job, even for young shoots. Korean guidance on spring wild greens is to boil them, then soak them in cold water for two hours or more before cooking. Change the water several times during the soak and throw it away afterwards. Do not skip straight from the pot to a dressed salad.
△ Mature leaves and roots — Once the leaves have toughened, neither they nor the roots are an edible part. Colchicine-type alkaloids are reported to be more of a problem as leaves mature and towards the root, which is why the season stops at spring shoots. Plants in ornamental beds or on roadsides may have been sprayed and are not dug.
Varieties
- Orange daylily (wang-wonchuri) (seedling) — The Hemerocallis fulva line. Orange flowers, spreads readily by rhizome
- Yellow daylily (norang-wonchuri) (seedling) — Hemerocallis thunbergii. Pale yellow flowers that open towards evening
- Ornamental daylily hybrids (seedling) — Garden lines selected for flower colour and size. Not bred for eating, so do not eat them
Source: Donguibogam, Herb Section 萱草根 · Rural Development Administration (Nongsaro) · Korea MFDS wild-greens safety guidance