Day Lily Orange Plant – Hemerocallis

This introduced perennial plant consists of a rosette of basal leaves and flowering stalks about 3-6′ tall. The basal leaves are linear with parallel venation and hairless, tapering gradually to a sword-like point. They have a tendency to bend down and outward around the middle, and are somewhat floppy in appearance. From the center of the rosette, there develops one or more stout flowering stalks that are held erect and are usually much taller than the leaves. Each stalk is hairless and largely naked, except for a few green bracts along its length. It is largely unbranched, except near the apex, where there is a panicle consisting of a few small clusters of flowers. 
Range & Habitat: The Orange Day Lily has been observed in the wild in most counties of Illinois. It is probably more widespread than official records indicate, and is fairly common. Habitats include cemeteries and cemetery prairies, thickets and woodland borders, areas along railroads and roadsides, sites of abandoned homesteads, and old flower gardens. The Orange Day Lily usually occurs at disturbed sites, but it can also invade natural areas and become in time a nuisance. The waxy coating of the leaves resists penetration by herbicides, making control of this plant more difficult. It is possible to dig plants out of the ground with a shovel, but any roots that are left in the ground can regenerate new plants. The Day Lilies originate primarily from East Asia.