daylily
LowSpecialist/Technical (Gardening/Horticulture); informal in gardening contexts.
Definition
Meaning
A perennial garden plant (genus Hemerocallis) with showy, trumpet-shaped flowers that typically last for only one day.
Any plant belonging to the genus Hemerocallis, valued for its hardiness, vibrant colors, and succession of blooms, where new flowers open daily. The term is also used in casual gardening contexts to refer to the plant's specific flower.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Not a true lily (family Liliaceae). It belongs to the Asphodelaceae family. The name 'daylily' is a compound word that directly describes the flower's ephemeral lifespan.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant lexical or semantic differences. Spelling is identical.
Connotations
Slight preference for formal term 'Hemerocallis' in some British horticultural writing, while 'daylily' is very common in both.
Frequency
Equally common in gardening contexts in both varieties. Not part of general, non-gardening vocabulary.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[grow/plant/divide] + daylilies[orange/red/yellow] + daylilydaylily + [blooms/dies/returns]Vocabulary
Synonyms
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Rare. Might occur in nursery/gardening centre inventory or marketing.
Academic
Used in botanical, horticultural, or ecological papers and texts.
Everyday
Used by gardeners and in casual discussions about gardens.
Technical
Standard term in horticulture, botany, and landscape design.
Examples
By Part of Speech
adjective
British English
- The daylily display was spectacular.
American English
- We have a new daylily cultivar.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- I saw a yellow flower in the garden. It is a daylily.
- Daylilies are easy to grow because they need very little care.
- Although each individual bloom lasts but a single day, the profusion of flowers on a well-established daylily provides weeks of colour.
- Horticulturists have developed thousands of hybrid daylilies, expanding the original colour palette far beyond the common tawny orange.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
A DAYLILY is a flower that looks like a LILY, but each bloom is only good for a DAY.
Conceptual Metaphor
EPHEMERAL BEAUTY (its daily bloom cycle is used metaphorically for fleeting moments of joy or transient life).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct calque 'дневная лилия'. The established Russian botanical/gardening term is 'красоднев' (krasodnev) or 'лилейник' (lileynik).
Common Mistakes
- Writing as two words: 'day lily' (less common but sometimes accepted) or 'day-lily' (hyphenated form is dated).
- Confusing it with true lilies (Lilium).
Practice
Quiz
What is the primary characteristic conveyed by the 'day' in 'daylily'?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, despite the name, daylilies (Hemerocallis) are not true lilies (Lilium). They belong to a different botanical family.
Yes, some species (like Hemerocallis fulva) have edible buds, flowers, and tubers, but correct identification is crucial as some plants look similar and are toxic.
The plant itself is a long-lived perennial, often thriving for decades, even though each individual flower lasts only a day.
The name comes from the Greek words 'hemera' (day) and 'kallos' (beauty), meaning 'beauty for a day', referring to the short lifespan of each flower.