Daylily Glossary

Daylily | Canticle of MaryHere we define many of the common terms used when describing Daylilies.

APPLIQUE, APPLIQUED THROAT:  Opaque color pattern originating in the throat and extending onto the midrib and tepal surfaces. 

BICOLOR:  Daylily flower with petals that are a different color than the sepals. 

BITONE:  Daylily flower with lighter tinted outer segments or sepals and darker tinted inner segments or petals of the same color. 


BLEND:
  Daylily flower with blended coloration of two or more colors. 

CASCADE:  Term for cascading or curling segments of the Daylily. A term used in Unusual Form Daylilies. 

COMPLETE SELF:  Daylily with perianth segments, throat, pistil and stamens all the same color. 

CRISTATE, MIDRIB CRISTATE:  Refers to a form where extra petal tissue grows from the midribs or somewhere on the petal surface. If growing from midribs, it is a MIDRIB CRISTATE. 

DECIDUOUS:  Daylilies that lose their foliage completely before or after frost. They resume growth in spring. 

DIPLOID (DIP):  Plants that have 2 complete sets of chromosomes per cell. 

DIURNAL:  Flower opens in morning or during the day. 

DORMANT (DOR):  The plant temporarily suspends any growth that is visible. 

DOUBLE:  Daylily flower with more than one petal whorl or a stamen whorl that contains petal-like stamens. 

DWARF:  Daylilies up to 12 inches tall. The flowers can be miniature, small or large. 

EARLY, (E):  Blooms early in season, 3 to 5 weeks before midseason. 

EARLY MIDSEASON, (EM):  Daylilies blooming 1 to 3 weeks before heighth of season. 

EVERGREEN, (EV):  Daylilies that retain their foliage throughout the year. Evergreen Daylilies over-winter as mounds of frozen pale green foliage in colder climates. 

EXTENDED BLOOM:  Flowers that stay open 16 hours or more. 

EXTENDED FLOWERING:  Same as extended bloom. 

EXTRA EARLY, (EE):  First to bloom. March or April in the extreme South. May or June in the North. 

EYE, EYEZONE:  Daylily with darker colored zone on the petals and sepals, just above the throat. 

FAN:  Individual unit with leaves, crown and roots. 

FEATHERED:  Pattern in the eye zone with feathered appearance. 

FLORAL WHORL:  Layers of the flower. A complete Daylily has four whorls; the sepals, the petals, the stamens and the pistils. 


HALO:
  When the eye pattern of a Daylily is narrow or indistinct. 

HISTORIC DAYLILY:  A Daylily plant registered before 1980. 

HOSE-IN-HOSE DOUBLE:  Daylily with extra whorls or layers of petals. This gives the appearance of a flower within a flower. 

LARGE-FLOWERED DAYLILY:  Daylily flower that is 4.5 inches or greater in diameter. 

LATE, (L):  Daylilies that bloom when most others have finished. 

LATE MIDSEASON, (LM):  Daylilies that bloom 1 to 3 weeks after peak bloom. 

MIDRIB:  Main lengthwise vein of a petal or sepal. 


MIDSEASON, (M):
  Daylilies blooming at the peak of the Daylily season. 


MINIATURE:
  Daylily flowers less than 3 inches in diameter. They can be on dwarf, medium or tall scapes. 

MULTIFORM:  Daylily with two or more forms of spider, unusual form, polymerous or double. 

NOCTURNAL BLOOM:  Flower that opens late in the day and stays open during the night. Can stay open all or part of the next day. 

PATTERNED:  Daylily with variations in color on the base, midrib or throat. The design is more ornate than a solid eye or band. 

PENCIL EDGE:  Thin line of color on the outer edge of an eye, band or watermark. 


PEONY TYPE DOUBLE:
  Having petal-like stamens inside the normal petal whorl. 

PERIANT:  A typical Daylily consists of a funnel-shaped perianth tube with 6 tepals in two rows. 

PETAL:  The top 3 tepals of the Daylily. 

PETALOID:  Indicates a plant part that resembles a petal. Used as an adjective. 

PICOTEE:  Edging on a flower that is a different color than the base of the flower. 

PINCHING:  Floral segments with sharp folds that give a pinched effect. 

PISTIL:  Flower female reproductive organ. 


PLEATED:
  Petals have a deep crease along each side of the midrib. This causes folding of the petal upon itself creating a raised platform from the top of the perianth tube and ends between the throat and the petal tips. 

POLYCHROME:  Flowers intermingling or blending many colors. 

POLYMEROUS:  A Daylily with more than the normal number of segments in the floral whirls. 

QUILLING:  Floral segments turning upon themselves along the length to form tubular shapes. 

REBLOOMER, REMONTANT:  Plant with more than one flowering cycle per year. 

RECURVED:  Flower petals reflex back toward the base giving a ball-like appearance. 

REVERSE BITONE:  Daylily flower with lighter coloring on the inner segments and darker color on the outer segments. 

SCAPE:  Flower stalk without leaves. 

SELF:  Daylily flower all the same color. Throat region can be a different color. 

SEMI-EVERGREEN, (SEV):  Used to describe any foliage not classified as evergreen or deciduous. Originally used to describe Daylilies that retained leaves in the south, but not in the north.
SEPAL:Bottom three segments of the Daylily flower. 

SINGLE:  Daylily flower with 3 petals, 3 sepals, 6 stamens and 1 pistil. 

SMALL-FLOWERED:  Daylilies with blooms 3 inches to 4.5 inches in diameter. 

SPIDER:  Daylily flower with petals that are four times or greater in length than the petal's width. 

STAMEN:  Pollen producing part of the flower with a filament supporting the anther. 

TEPAL:  The petals and sepals of the Daylily, also referred to as perianth segments. 

TETRAPLOID, (TET):  Plant having 4 sets of chromosomes per cell. 

THROAT:  Center of the Daylily flower where the pistil and stamens join to the bloom. 

TRIPLOID:  Plant with a triple set of chromosomes. 

UNUSUAL FORM:  Daylily class based on form, not color pattern. Having distinctive tepal shapes. Crispate, cascade or spatulate. 

VARIEGATED FLOWERS:  Flowers with streaks of different color or colors or patches of differing color or colors. Also known as BROKEN COLOR. 

VEINING:  Color pattern where base color and vein color are different. 

VERY LATE, (VL):  Daylilies that are last to bloom. Can be late summer in the South or fall in the North. 

WASH:  Layering of color over another color. 

WATERMARK:  Lighter color zone above the flower's throat. Color is lighter than the petal color. 

WHORL:  One of the layers of petals, sepals, stamens or pistils.