Edible Lilies: 4 Parts of the Edible Flowers

True lilies are edible flowers with colorful, star-shaped blooms in the Liliaceae family of plants. It’s often possible to harvest edible lilies and other wild plants in early spring. Other common edible flowers include nasturtiums, squash blossoms, pansies, geraniums, and lavender. As wildflowers, these plants grow throughout the northern hemisphere. Gardeners also grow the plants intentionally for both aesthetic and culinary purposes.

You can safely consume all parts of a true lily, including the following:

• Blooms: As a garnish, the petals and blooms of a lily flower can brighten up a summer salad or add an elegant aesthetic to a wedding cake or appetizer. Additionally, these blooms are high in B vitamins, which are necessary for energy production. This can make them a good food to forage if you’re in the wilderness and need sustenance before traversing difficult terrain to your next shelter.
• Bulbs: True lilies bloom from bulbs, which are edible and the most nutritious part of the plant you can eat. Add these bulbs, along with lily roots, to soups or stews to thicken them. Alternatively, stir-fry sliced lily roots and bulbs until they become soft and chewy, similar to fingerling potatoes. Some lilies grow from tubers, rather than bulbs; however, such plants are rarely true lilies and, therefore, might be inedible. To be safe, research plants with “lily” in their name, as not all will be true lilies. Additionally, take care to avoid irises, which can appear similar in terms of both their blooms and their bulbous tubers but are highly poisonous.
• Flower buds: The dried buds of edible flowers are often finishing touches to culinary dishes. For example, in Chinese cuisine chefs dry the unopened flowers of tiger lilies to craft gum jum choi, or “golden needles,” a common Chinese ingredient. To dry your own buds and petals, leave the lily flowers on a rock in direct sunlight for a few days. Once the unopened flowers are crispy, you can use them to add texture to a foraged salad or prepare them in a pan with meat.
• Shoots: The young shoots and leaves of lily plants can serve as alternatives to fresh basil, chives, and other alliums. Flavor-enhancing foods like these are essential to increasing the appeal of dishes. This is especially important in a survival scenario, in which the loss of appetite could lead to rapid weight lose and nutrient deficiencies.

Lilies, which feature attractive, colorful blooms, are edible plants. Here are just three examples of edible lilies:

1. 1. Chinese lily: Native to China, the common Chinese lily (Lilium brownii var. viridulum) has trumpet-shaped blossoms that are white or white and brown. In China, people cultivate the plants for culinary and medicinal uses. The lily’s petals are versatile ingredients you can serve candied, sautéed, or raw. Additionally, dried Chinese lily provides dishes with a unique sweet, floral aroma.
2. 2. Orange daylily: Native to parts of Asia, the orange daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) is recognizable for its vivid orange blossoms. The daylily plant’s flavor profile is similar to that of zucchini or asparagus. Remove the stamens before consuming a full bloom and refrain from eating large amounts since daylily flowers can act as natural laxatives. In a survival situation, this plant can help remedy severe constipation; however, it’s important to note diarrhea can lead to life-threatening dehydration, so use the plant with extreme caution.
3. 3. Tiger lily: Popular in Asian cuisine, the tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium) grows from bulbs you can roast until they achieve a softer texture, similar to a roasted potato. Cook tiger lily bulbs in a pan with other vegetables, such as green beans, or with the roots, which are the most nutrient-dense parts of the lily plant. If you’re foraging and harvesting the plant, look for the lily’s orange blooms with black spots.

Certain outdoor activities carry an elevated risk of serious injury. Wilderness scenarios require extensive survival gear, including but not limited to food, water, maps, protective clothing, and first aid, along with mental and physical fortitude. This article is for educational and informational purposes, and is not a substitute for hard skills and expertise.

Prepare for any outdoor journey by grabbing a MasterClass Annual Membership and committing Jessie Krebs’s wilderness survival course to memory. As a former United States Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape instructor, Jessie can teach you everything you need to know about packing for a trip (neon is the new black), purifying water, foraging (crickets: the other white meat), starting a fire, and signaling for help (forget SOS).