There’ll be bluebells over…

14/05/2008

 Batten down the hatches. Francis Drake will be spinning in his grave. 

 

The Spanish are coming. In fact they’ve been silently and surreptitiously invading our shores for years now.

 

We’re not talking armadas, but bluebells. The latter day Spanish infiltrator goes by the name of Hyacinthoides hispanica (Spanish

Bluebell) and is responsible for the decline in our own native bluebell.  Bluebells are so ubiquitous and, at the same time, so lovely that I bet as most of us wander through woodlands we don’t really take a good look at what we are seeing - and I daresay that most of us would not recognise whether we were admiring our British native bluebell or the Hispanic usurper.

 

In fact, in recent years our British native bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta - pictured above) has actually become endangered, because the Hispanic variety is stronger (genetically speaking) than our own native species and, when planted amongst the British native, will hybridise with them and eliminate the native features. Just one specimen of the Hispanic type planted in a native woodland would change the nature of the woodland in a relatively short space of time.

 

 Unfortunately this Spanish beauty (well it is quite pretty in its own way - see right) is often sold in the guise of being a native bluebell. It is difficult to look at a bulb and know that it is not the real thing. 

 

However Bluebells can be bought from specialist growers “in the green” (which means they are in leaf) and as the leaves on our native are considerably more slender than the Hispanic variety, they are easier to identify when bought this way.

 

How do you identify them? The British native is recognisable because it droops over to one side at the very top and the flowers are borne down one side only, whereas the Hispanic sort are more erect and the stem is covered by flowers on all sides.

 

Another growing threat to our woodlands is that many people see no 

harm in digging up a few natives to plant in their own gardens.  

 

Apart from being socially unacceptable to most of us, it is actually illegal to do so: the native bluebell is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).

 

So don’t go digging for victory: help to repel the invaders by going to your local nursery and seeking out the genuine, British article to grow in our own gardens. And the next time you wander through the woods take a second look - hopefully you’ll be lucky enough to find yourself in a truly native bluebell wood.