Tuesday, July 1, 2008

roadside delicacy


Perhaps, methinks, my mind is in the gutter or ditch or highway culvert. Like yesterday, I’m noticing a flower growing along our roadsides.

Orange daylily, its botanical name “Hemerocallis fulva” means “beautiful for a day” “tawny orange in color,” is originally from Asia (from the Caucasus east through the Himalaya to China, Japan, Korea and southeastern Russia) but like chicory (see yesterday's posting) it has become naturalized and widespread, often found in damp low-lying areas throughout most of the United States except the desert Southwest. Too hot and dry!

All parts of the daylily are edible, and plants have been cultivated for thousands of years in Asia for food. This one I have tried. I once collected a pot full of flower heads before they opened and boiled them like potatoes. Surprisingly, they tasted rather bland; perhaps I should have mixed them with chicory.

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