The native Bluebell is one of Britain’s most familiar spring wildflowers. In April and May, its violet-blue flowers can form great carpets beneath deciduous woodland, sometimes covering the ground before the tree canopy has fully closed.
It belongs to Asparagaceae, the asparagus family. The family is much broader than its name suggests and also includes plants such as squills, Solomon’s-seals and asparagus.
Identification
- A perennial growing from an underground bulb.
- Usually 20–50 cm tall when flowering.
- Narrow, smooth, strap-shaped leaves arise from the base of the plant.
- Deep violet-blue, bell-shaped flowers hang from a curved flowering stem.
- Flowers are usually arranged on one side of the stem in a nodding raceme.
- The flower tips curl strongly backwards.
- Anthers and pollen are usually cream or pale yellow.
- The flowers are normally sweetly scented.
The combination of a drooping one-sided flowering stem, strongly recurved flower tips, narrow leaves and pale pollen is especially useful when separating the native Bluebell from Spanish Bluebell and their hybrids.
Flower structure
What looks like six blue petals is more accurately described as six tepals. The flower has two whorls of three perianth segments, but the outer and inner segments look so similar that all six are usually described together as tepals.
The six tepals are joined towards the base to form a narrow bell-shaped tube, with their free tips curling strongly backwards. Inside are six stamens. The pale cream anthers are a useful identification feature of the native species.
At the centre is a three-chambered ovary, which develops into a dry seed capsule after flowering.
Leaves and bulb
Bluebell leaves are long, narrow and strap-shaped, usually arising directly from the base. They are smooth and hairless and commonly reach 20–50 cm long.
The plant spends much of the year underground as a bulb. Stored reserves in the bulb allow leaves and flowers to emerge quickly in spring while plenty of light still reaches the woodland floor.
Bluebells can reproduce from seed and can also spread vegetatively from bulbs, helping established colonies persist for many years.
Habitat
Native Bluebells are strongly associated with deciduous woodland, particularly long-established woods, but they are not restricted to woodland. They can also occur in:
- hedgerows and hedge banks
- shady road verges
- grassland, especially in wetter western areas
- scrub and woodland edges
Bluebells are often described as an ancient woodland indicator. A large population can be a useful clue that woodland has been present for a long time, especially when other ancient woodland plants are present too.
Flowering period
Bluebells usually flower from April into May. The exact timing varies with weather, latitude and local conditions.
Their spring growth makes good use of the bright period before deciduous trees are in full leaf. Once the canopy closes and summer approaches, the leaves die back and the plant retreats underground to its bulb.
Similar species
Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) is generally more upright and robust. Its flowers tend to occur around more than one side of the stem, the tepal tips are less strongly curled back, and its anthers are often blue rather than cream. The flowers usually have much less scent.
Hybrid Bluebell (Hyacinthoides × massartiana) results from crossing native and Spanish Bluebells. Hybrids can show mixtures of the two sets of characters, so individual plants are not always straightforward to identify.
When trying to recognise a native Bluebell, use several characters together rather than relying only on flower colour.
Folklore & history
Bluebells have a particularly rich association with British woodland folklore. They have often been described as fairy flowers, and old stories warned that wandering into a bluebell wood could lead a person into fairy enchantment or cause them to lose their way.
The scientific name has its own story. Hyacinthoides means “resembling a hyacinth”, while non-scripta means “unwritten” or “unlettered”. Plantlife connects this with the classical story of Hyacinthus, whose mythical flower was said to bear the letters AI AI, meaning “alas”. The Bluebell was the hyacinth-like flower without the writing.
Bluebells also had practical historical uses. Their sticky sap was used as an adhesive, including for fixing feathers to arrows and in bookbinding, while starch made from the bulbs was once used for stiffening Elizabethan ruffs.
Among their many old vernacular names are cuckoo’s boots, witches’ thimbles, fairy flower and granfer griggles.
Wildlife
Bluebells provide a valuable spring nectar source for bees, hoverflies, butterflies and other insects. Bumblebees sometimes reach the nectar by biting through the base of the flower rather than entering through the bell.
The large spring displays that people associate with old woods are therefore not only visually striking but also part of an important seasonal food supply for woodland insects.