Identification
This perennial was introduced as a showy garden flower from Eurasia. The basal leaves are sword-like and up to 3 feet long (E). Large, erect, funnel-shaped deep orange flowers open one at a time from a cluster of buds at the end of a leafless stalk (C,D). Each flower has 6 tepals (3 true petals and 3 slightly smaller, very similar sepals). Extending from the yellow throat are 6 long stamens and 1 pistil (A,B). Each flower opens to about 4 inches across, but lasts only a day.
Day Lily is similar to Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium canadense) which also has large orange flowers. Unlike Day Lily, it has nodding flower heads, brown spots on the insides of the flowers, and whorled leaves on stems.
Occurs in areas where it has been previously planted, its vigorous rhizomes often forming large beds along roadsides, cemeteries, or sites of old abandoned gardens or homesteads. In Fontenelle Forest this plant has been seen at the former Baldwin homestead site (History Trail) and near the entrances to Mill and Child’s Hollows. At Neale Woods it has been seen in the River Road ditch at the Krimlofski Tract. Flowering occurs from June to August.
Unlike our bulb-forming native lilies which reproduce from small bublets or seeds, this introduced garden plant is a sterile hybrid. Orange Day Lily spreads via vigorous rhizomes often forming large colonies. Although it remains a plant of disturbed areas or areas where roots have been dumped, its ability to aggressively spread into natural areas where it shades out native plants has prompted some states to place it on their invasive species list.
This old favorite of gardeners has now been replaced by a dazzling variety of showier cultivars which don’t produce rhizomes and are less likely to spread.
Other common names are Tiger Lily and Ditch Lily.
The content of NatureSearch is provided by dedicated volunteer Naturalists of Fontenelle Forest who strive to provide the most accurate information available. Contributors of the images retain their copyrights. The point of contact for this page is: Roland Barth.