Some Daylily Terminology

FLOWER FORMS:

The term Daylily is always written as a single word. To write it as two words would indicate that the plant is a particlular kind of a Lily, in the genus Lilium. The genus Hemerocallis tends to have flowers which open for a single day, hence the common name of Daylily for the whole genus.

Daylilies have been hybridzed into a variety of shapes. Part of the delight of viewing daylilies in a garden setting is the contrast between the various sizes and forms.

Circular -- When viewed from the front of a bloom, the flower appears round. Segments tend to be short, wide and stubby, and generally overlap, giving a full appearance. At times you may hear the term Bagel refering to the round aspect of the bloom. See also: Recurved

Double -- This form has more than six segments. Double daylilies, like single daylilies, come in differing forms. For example: The extra segments may appear as a tuft in the middle of the flower. This is often referred to as a "peony-type" double. They may appear as a second layer of segments on top of the normal six, forming two blooms in one - or a "hose-in-hose" effect. They may appear as irregular or asymmetrical extra petaloids. Petaloids are the term used here to indicate that the petals are actually modified stamens

Flat -- When viewed from side of bloom, flowers are perfectly flat except for the concave throat.

Polymerous -- Defined as "having extra whole tepals (sepals and petals) in the two tepal whorls of a flower, i.e., more than the normal three sepals (usually four or five) in the outer whorl and more than three petals (usually the same number as sepals) in the inner whorl." The word "polytepalous" as adopted by the American Hemerocallis Society applies to a condition recognized in botanical language as polymerous.

Recurved -- When viewed from side of bloom, flower segments flare, but ends of segments roll or tuck under.

Ruffled -- When viewed from front of bloom, flower segments have ruffles along the edges. Ruffles take many forms; they may be tightly crimped, laced, knobby, or wavy.

Spider -- A flower whose segments have a length-to-width ratio of at least 4 to 1 (i.e., 4:1). Length is measured with the segment fully extended. Width measurement is taken as the flower grows naturally.

Unusual form -- The newest registration class includes crispate (pinched, twisted or quilled floral segments); cascading (narrow curling or cascading segments); and spatulate (segments markedly wider at the end like a kitchen spatula.) Its definition states: "The Unusual Form" class is based exclusively on form, not on color or color patterns. The flower must have distinctive petal or sepal shapes, or a combination of both.

Flower Patterns

BICOLOR: A daylily flower whose petal segments are of a completely different color than its sepal segments.

BITONE: A flower with inner and outer segments of different tints of the same basic color. A bitone has lighter outer segments (sepals) and darker inner segments (petals). A REVERSE BITONE has the darker tones on its outer ring (sepals) and lighter coloration on the inner segments (petals)

EYE, EYEZONE:

Eye - A darker colored zone on the petals and sepals of the flower just above the throat. Notice that in the example below the eye pattern also appears on the sepals. If the dark pattern only appears on the petals, it as called a band.

Edge- Usually a darker color around the petals and sometimes sepals. Sometimes there may be a small outer light colored margin. Notice that no dark color is seen on the sepals making the dark color near the center a band.