Bluebells & Hyacinths
What are they?
Perennial, herbacous plants growing from subterranean bulbs. Our native Common Bluebell is one of the greatest of natural treasures in the British Isles and our islands hold a significant percentage of the world population. The sight - and heady scent - of a woodland carpeted in blue during April is one of the highlights of the naturalist's year, while the nation's love of these plants has seen them widely cultivated in gardens.
Where are they found?
Our native species is found commonly and often in great abundance in wooded areas, especially in older woodland that has been coppiced. Other species are non-native but are commonly cultivated and may be found in churchyards, amenity areas and a wide range of roadside and grassy habitats.
Identification
The leaves and growth styles are all rather similar, so identification of this group is based mainly on flowers. Details of the shape of the mature flower spike should be noted as well as precise details of the individual flower shape - especially whether the individual tepals are strongly recurved at the tip or not. Also note the colour of the anthers inside the flowers. It is very important to note that the horticultural industry persists in selling hybrid bluebells labelled as Spanish Bluebells, for some reason best known to themselves. For this reason, few - if any - horticultural references to these plants can be trusted to be accurate and Spanish Bluebell has been grossly misrepresented and over-recorded in literature as a result. Since the main problem is that hybrids are labelled and sold as Spanish Bluebells, very few online images of Spanish Bluebell can be trusted either, and none from horticultural sources. Note that any plant identified as either Common or Spanish Bluebell should show the full suite of listed characters; any plant showing even one trait of the other species should be presumed to be a hybrid.
Common Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta
Native and found in abundance in old woodland and hedgebanks as well as occasionally where planted. Often survives long after a wood is felled and so may also be found in more open sites. Flowers April to May. Flowers pendant and forming a one-sided spike when fully open; open flowers are broadly tubular or very narrowly bell-shaped with more or less parallel sides and with the tepal tips strongly curling back on themselves. Anthers cream-coloured, the stamens variable in length with three short and three long. Deep, violet-blue and heavily scented, but may rarely be paler blue, pink or white, such plants usually being found as isolated individuals within large colonies of deep blue ones. Leaves relatively narrow, 7-15mm wide.
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Hybrid Bluebell Hyacinthoides x massartiana
Introduced as a garden plant, this hybrid between the native Common Bluebell and the introduced Spanish Bluebell is abundant in the wider countryside, both where planted and where naturally seeding in grassy places and roadsides. In urban environments virtually all bluebells found are likely to be this hybrid. Widely sold by the horticultural trade as 'Spanish Bluebells' and even sometimes as native bluebells. Flowers April to May. Flowers pendant, semi-pendant or more or less facing outward at 90 degrees to the main stem; carried around all sides of the stem in an upright spike; open flowers 10-20mm in diameter, broadly to narrowly bell-shaped with the tepal tips curling outwards, but very variable and can closely resemble either parent. Anthers whitish or with a bluish tint, the stamens generally variable in length. Leaves generally intermediate in size between the parents, 10-30mm wide, but there is a certain amount of overlap. Pale to bright blue, pink or white. Because this hybrid is fertile, it can backcross with the parents and produce a complete range of intermediates. Any bluebell not exactly fitting the description of either Common or Spanish Bluebell should be presumed to be this hybrid.
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Spanish Bluebell Hyacinthoides hispanica
Introduced from southern Europe as a garden plant but now almost entirely replaced by its hybrid with our native bluebell. Greatly confused with forms of the Hybrid Bluebell and only reliably recorded from a handful of places in the East Anglia region. Flowers April to May. Flowers more or less facing straight out at right angles to the main stem when fully open, in an upright spike; open flowers 15-25mm in diameter, broadly bell-shaped with the tepals spreading outwards but not strongly rolled or recurved. Anthers blue, the stamens of equal length and attached low down on the tepals. Leaves broad, 20-50mm wide, but with some overlap with larger hybrids. Almost always pale to bright blue, but pink or white forms may rarely occur (these should be checked that they're not hybrids!). Plants not showing the full set of features - especially flower shape - should be presumed to be hybrids.
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Common Hyacinth Hyacinthus orientalis
Originally introduced from Asia Minor but now much cultivated and occasionally found as a short-lived garden throw-out. Flowers April to May. Flowers with relatively narrow sepals and thus more open and star-shaped than the bluebells. May be pink, white, any shade of blue, or even yellowish in colour with recently cultivated plants having dense, tall flower spikes. Plants that are self-sustaining seem to get weaker over the years and flower spikes can even consist of just two or three flowers before the plants finally give up the ghost.
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