Wannan Daylily

Wannan Daylily

　　Daylily, also known as golden needle vegetable or forget-me-not flower, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Liliaceae family and Hemerocallis genus. It features strong resistance to pests and diseases and high adaptability. The Wannan daylily in Xintai has a long cultivation history. Two hundred years ago, farmers at the foot of Qingyun Mountain and Taiping Mountain began introducing and planting “mountain golden needles,” which played a positive role in slope protection and soil and water conservation. In recent years, local farmers have gained new insights into the edible value of daylilies. Through measures such as purification, rejuvenation, selection, and transplantation, the daylily has been effectively developed. Among them, Wannan No. 1 and Wannan No. 2 are traditional premium local varieties, excelling in color, aroma, and shape compared to other types. Each 100 grams of daylily contains 33 mg of ascorbic acid, 1.1 mg of niacin, 1.17 mg of carotene, 0.13 mg of riboflavin, 0.19 mg of thiamine, 73 mg of calcium, 1.4 mg of iron, 2.9 g of protein, 0.5 g of fat, and 11.6 g of sugar. It offers various medicinal benefits such as refreshing the brain, improving intelligence, reducing swelling and promoting urination, stopping bleeding, and preventing and fighting cancer.

　　　 Field-grown daylilies can be harvested from early April to the end of August. When first picked, they are yellowish-green but turn entirely golden after storage. When stored at low temperatures, they can remain fresh for up to three months, and dehydrated preservation can extend their shelf life to about ten months. Since the reform and opening-up, the Party Committee and government of Wannan Town in Xintai City have placed great emphasis on the comprehensive development of daylilies, treating it as an important measure to tap resource advantages and accelerate rural prosperity. The cultivation scale has expanded from original planting along field ridges to large-scale field cultivation. In 1998, the town was recognized as China’s No. 1 Daylily Town by the China Specialty Economic Professional Committee and registered the green food trademark — “Golden Ballet” brand. In 2000, the planted area reached 10,500 mu, with yields of 1,000–1,500 kilograms per mu, and an average profit of around 5,000 yuan per mu. There are three specialized daylily wholesale markets in Wannan Town, and the products are sold to cities such as Beijing, Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin, Qingdao, Shouguang, Tengzhou, and Dalian.