北黄花菜 bei huang hua cai

Hemerocallis flava (Linnaeus) Linnaeus; H. lilioasphodelus var. flava Linnaeus.

Plants 70--80 cm tall, deciduous in winter. Roots slightly fleshy or ropelike, sometimes with a swollen, tuberous part. Leaves linear, 20--70 × 0.3--1.2 cm, apex acuminate. Scape generally slightly shorter than leaves, solid; main axis distinct; sterile bracts present. Inflorescence branched; helicoidal cymes 2--4(or 5), 2--4(or 5)-flowered; bracts lanceolate, 2--6(--8) cm × 5--7 mm. Pedicel 1--2 cm. Flowers fragrant, opening in afternoon and lasting 1--3 days, blackish purple or green apically in bud. Perianth lemon-colored; tube 1.5--2.5 cm; segments spreading, 5--7 × 1.3--1.6 cm, inner ones slightly wider than outer. Filaments 5--5.5 cm; anthers yellow, sometimes purple-black adaxially, ca. 8 mm. Capsule ellipsoid, ca. 2.4 × 1.2 cm. Fl. Jun--Aug. 2 n = 22.

Forests, thickets, meadows, grasslands, slopes along valleys; 100--2000 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi [Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia (Siberia); Europe].

The flowers are steamed and then dried as a traditional food in China.