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nials, consists in obtaining seedlings of merit which are then mul- 

 tiplied by division. 



To understand the development of the cultivated daylilies, it is 

 necessary to recall the introduction of the wild types. The native 

 home of the daylilies is in the temperate regions of Asia — chiefly 

 in Japan, China, and Siberia. It happens that two daylilies had 

 already been taken from the Orient into Europe for culture as 

 medicinal plants and as garden subjects at the time when the first 

 books were written about such plants — about 350 years ago. One 

 of these is the Lemon Daylily; the other is the fulvous Europa 

 Daylily. These two have been propagated continuously by divi- 

 sion and hence the many thousands of plants of each of these two 

 types which now exist are branches of a clone that is at least 

 four centuries old. This is a remarkable and unusual record, 

 which attests the vigor, the hardiness, and the immunity to dis- 

 ease which characterize the daylilies as a group and contribute 

 greatly to their value as garden plants. 



From time to time other types of daylilies were brought from 

 the Orient to Europe and America until now at least fifteen dis- 

 tinct species are to be recognized. There is in these types a wide 

 diversity in respect to stature of plants, habit of growth, season 

 of flowering, and in the color, the size, and the form of the 

 flowers. In stature there is a range from about a foot in height 

 to seven feet tall. The flowering season extends from May until 

 heavy freezes in October. The colors of the flowers include 

 yellow and orange in clear colors and orange in combination with 

 fulvous red. These wild types provide excellent material for 

 hybridization and selective breeding. It is certain that other wild 

 types remain in the Orient to be discovered, introduced into cul- 

 ture, and used in hybridizations in the further improvement of 

 the group. 



It is to be noted that almost no improvement of daylilies has 

 occurred in the Orient. One interesting horticultural type which 

 has double flowers has long been known in both Japan and China. 

 Certain types have been cultivated in China because the flowers 

 arc used as fond, which is deservedly regarded as a delicacy. Hut 

 only a few of the hybrid daylilies now grown as garden clones 

 originated in the ( >rient. 



In Europe the production of the horticultural daylilies began 



