Flowers of British bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Beauty in the Woods: Bluebells

Posted on by Ann Mackay

Right now, in the UK, you can see swathes of blue among groups of trees and along the bottoms of hedges. If you’re lucky, you might find yourself in a bluebell wood. It’s one of the special sights of springtime and a precious part of the British countryside.

But not all bluebells are the same…and it’s not always easy to tell which are the true native British bluebells. The bluebell below is a Spanish bluebell, which you will find growing in many gardens. (These bluebells came from my own garden – I had to crop the picture quite tightly to remove some of the rather chewed-looking bells. I wonder what has been eating them…)

Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica)
A close-up of a Spanish bluebell, showing the arrangement of flowers on the stem.

So how do you tell the difference between the two types of bluebell? There are a few clues that should help. The Spanish bluebells hold their flowers on all sides of the stem and stand very upright, whereas the British bluebell’s flowers hang in an arch, mostly on just the one side of the stem. (However, the photograph below shows what appears to be an immature flower at the left-hand side of the picture. I’m assuming that it has yet to develop the characteristic arch.)

The flowers of the British bluebell are a darker colour and the bells are a slimmer and longer shape. The leaves are also slimmer (about 1.5cm or half an inch wide), while the leaves of the Spanish bluebell are twice that width. Additionally, our native bluebells have a sweet scent but there is none or little from the Spanish flowers.

Just to make identification difficult, the two plants hybridise very readily and the hybrids are becoming very common. There is a fear that these hybrids may take over from the less vigorous British bluebell and that over time the genes of the native flower will become diluted by the incomer. It would be a pity if that happens. Our native bluebell is a sign of ancient woodlands and a sea of these deep blue, scented flowers is a wonderful sight.

Bluebells growing among birch trees.
Bluebells growing among birch trees.

Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

27 thoughts on “Beauty in the Woods: Bluebells”

  1. The British bluebells look really gorgeous in your photos! If you’re in a place where lots of them are blooming, can you readily smell the sweet scent in the air?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. For me, not so easily, because I don’t have a very good sense of smell, so scents have to be quite strong before I notice.. They are supposed to be well-scented, so if you catch them at the right time, I would think so. (It’s a while since I’ve been in a really big bluebell wood, so I’m trying to remember!)

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks for encouraging me to continue with my recent blog. It was interesting to read about the hybridised bluebells on your blog; I’ve seen evidence of this in South Glos’ – I’ve also seen the drooping form of the original in isolated places here too. It’s important that we recognise changes in our flora. Thank you for sharing this.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. It seems that there’s an awful lot of change in flora and wildlife going on. Climate change doesn’t help. I hope that we’ll find ways to reverse some of the changes…

        Like

    1. Thank you Indira! Yes, both are pretty and the Spanish bluebells find it easier to cope in sunny gardens. 🙂

      Like

  4. I was expecting to find a very different flower than your beautiful Bluebells. As a child growing up in rural southeastern Pennsylvania in the USA, I spent many happy times at my Gram’s over 200 acre farm. In the Spring the fields below her farmhouse were awash with a sea of blue tiny flowers that we called Bluebells. We were permitted to wander the fields gathering as many of them as our hands could hold and returning to place them into individual mason jars to take home with us. I, much later in life, discovered that these were actually Grape Hyacinths. They grow in my garden, though well past their prime at present. To me they will always be Bluebells and lovely memories. Thank-you!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ah, yes, I can see that bluebells would be a good name for Grape Hyacinths too. (I do have a few in the garden here.) And in Scotland there’s another plant called ‘harebell’ that is sometimes called bluebell. (That one is a kind of campanula.) So there’s lots of opportunity for confusion, hehe!

      Like

    1. I love blue flowers and I’m always happy to add them to my garden. I have a ceanothus just outside the window here and when I look up from the PC I can see its blue haze of flowers. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      2. We have a tiny office at the back of the house, overlooking the garden. It can be lovely and it can also be very distracting because there’s so much work waiting to be done out there!

        Like

  6. You have really captured the beauty of an English bluebell. I am seeing so many Spanish bluebells in gardens close to woodland and hybrids as the result. I wish there were a public information message about the Spanish ones!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you Ali! I agree…we don’t have woodland with bluebells close to us, otherwise I’d remove the Spanish bluebells from the garden…might anyway. (They were already here when we came.)

      Like

    1. Thanks Eli! I wonder if they’re related to our bluebell, or if they’re a completely different plant?

      Like

  8. Interesting to see the two different kinds. We have a flower here that must be a bluebell. It looks like it has similar leaves and it is the same blue, but it only has one flower at the top of each stalk. I was wondering if they were bluebells when I saw clusters of them in the woods. They are not so common here. I must go look this up now!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Might be a related plant? In Scotland there is another plant – harebells – which are sometimes called bluebells. They’re actually a kind of campanula. Your flower sounds interesting. Must be lovely to see them in the woods! 🙂

      Like

  10. There are few sights more beautiful than a bluebell wood in May. They are far fewer than there were, sadly, but still some about. My local wood is full of native English Bluebells.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. And because so many of the woods with bluebells are ancient woodlands, it’s even worse if we lose them. These are precious places!

      Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.