黄花菜 huang hua cai

Hemerocallis altissima Stout; H. coreana Nakai.

Plants to 1 m tall, deciduous in winter. Roots rather stout, fleshy, usually with oblong, swollen, tuberous part near tip. Leaves linear, 50--130 × 0.5--2.5 cm; leaf sheath with reddish margin. Scape usually slightly longer than leaves, solid; main axis indistinct. Inflorescence branched; helicoidal cymes 3--5 or more, 2--5-flowered; bracts lanceolate, 3--7 cm × 3--6 mm. Pedicel less than 1 cm. Flowers large, fragrant, opening in afternoon or evening and lasting 12--24 hours, purplish black apically in bud. Perianth lemon-colored; tube long, 3--5 cm; segments (6--)7--12 cm, inner ones 2--3 cm wide, slightly wider than outer ones. Filaments 7--8 cm; anthers yellow, 8--10 mm. Capsule ellipsoid, 2--2.5 × 1.2--1.5 cm. Fl. May--Aug. 2 n = 22.

Forest margins, grassy fields, slopes along valleys; near sea level to 2000 m. Anhui, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].

Widely cultivated for its edible flowers, especially in Hunan.