medicinal herbs
Coastal Day Lily
Hemerocallis littorea

• Medicinal herbs
• Natural herbs
• Latin names
• Common names

Herb: Coastal Day Lily

Latin name: Hemerocallis littorea

Synonyms: Hemerocallis aurantiaca littorea, Hemerocallis fulva littorea

Family: Hemerocallidaceae

Medicinal use of Coastal Day Lily:

The juice of the roots is an effective antidote in cases of arsenic poisoning. A tea made from the boiled roots is used as a diuretic.

Description of the plant:

Habitat of the herb:

Grassy places near the sea.

Edible parts of Coastal Day Lily:

Leaves and young shoots - cooked. They must be consumed when very young or else they become fibrous. Flowers and flower buds - raw or cooked. They can be dried and used as a thickener in soups etc. The flower buds contain about 43mg vitamin C per 100g, 983 IU vitamin A and 3.1% protein. Root - raw or cooked. A pleasant nutty flavour. This sub-species has a fibrous root system.

Other uses of the herb:

The tough dried foliage is plaited into cord and used for making footwear.

Propagation of Coastal Day Lily:

Seed - sow in the middle of spring in a greenhouse. Germination is usually fairly rapid and good. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Grow the plants on for their first winter in a greenhouse and plant out in late spring. Division in spring or after flowering in late summer or autumn. Division is very quick and easy, succeeding at almost any time of the year. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Cultivation of the herb:

Grassy places near the sea.

Known hazards of Hemerocallis littorea:

Large quantities of the leaves are said to be hallucinogenic. Blanching the leaves removes this hallucinatory component. (This report does not make clear what it means by blanching, it could be excluding light from the growing shoots or immersing in boiling water.)

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.