Are my bluebells English or Spanish, and does it matter?

The native bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, is one of the plants Britain holds a large share of the world population of. The Spanish bluebell, Hyacinthoides hispanica, is a garden plant that escaped, and the two cross freely to produce fertile hybrids. The concern is genuine — hybridisation dilutes native populations — and the identification is easy once you know what to look at.

Step by step

1. Look at the pollen first — it is the most reliable single test.Open a flower and look at the anthers. Creamy white pollen means native. Blue or pale blue pollen means Spanish or hybrid. This one feature is more dependable than any other.
2. Look at the stem and how the flowers hang.A native bluebell has a distinctly arching, nodding stem with the flowers hanging down one side of it. A Spanish bluebell has an upright stem with flowers arranged all the way round it, like a small hyacinth.
3. Look at the flower shape.Native flowers are narrow tubes with the tips strongly rolled back. Spanish flowers are broader, more open bell shapes with tips that flare rather than curl.
4. Look at the leaves.Native leaves are narrow, roughly 10 to 15mm wide. Spanish leaves are noticeably broader, often 20 to 35mm, and more upright and glossy.
5. Smell it.Native bluebells have a strong, sweet, distinctive scent. Spanish bluebells have almost none. In a wood full of them the scent is unmistakable.
6. Expect hybrids and read the combination, not one feature.Hyacinthoides x massartiana, the hybrid, is very common in gardens and increasingly in the wild, and shows intermediate characteristics. If some features say native and others say Spanish, it is a hybrid.
7. Know the legal position.The native bluebell is protected in the UK. It is an offence to dig up bulbs from the wild, and it is an offence to collect them from the wild for sale. Bluebells for the garden must come from cultivated stock, and reputable suppliers state this.
8. Decide what to do about Spanish bluebells in your garden.If you are near a wood or a hedgerow with native bluebells, removing Spanish and hybrid plants is a real contribution. Dig them out with the whole bulb, in flower when you can identify them, and bin rather than compost them. It takes several years because they seed and leave bulblets.
9. Plant native bluebells from a reputable cultivated source if you want them.Buy in the green in spring where possible, or from a supplier who guarantees cultivated origin, and plant them in dappled shade in moisture-retentive leafy soil.
10. Do not plant either kind near a native bluebell wood.Garden escapes are one of the main routes by which Spanish genes reach native populations. If you live next to bluebell woodland, the responsible choice is native stock or nothing.

Tips

• White and pink bluebells are almost always Spanish or hybrid. Native bluebells are occasionally white but it is uncommon.
• Spanish bluebells are vigorous, tolerate drier and sunnier conditions than natives, and spread readily. That toughness is exactly why they are hard to remove once established.
• Bluebells of any kind are toxic to eat, and the sap can irritate skin. Wear gloves when digging quantities of them out.
• Digging out Spanish bluebells is a multi-year job. Every fragment of bulb regrows, so expect to go back each spring for several years.

Common mistakes

• Identifying from a single feature — Hybrids are intermediate and very common. Read the pollen, the stem, the flower shape, the leaf width and the scent together.
• Digging bluebells up from a wood — It is an offence to dig up native bluebells from the wild, and it damages a habitat that takes decades to recover. Buy cultivated stock.
• Composting dug-out Spanish bluebells — The bulbs survive an ordinary garden heap and you replant them with the compost. Bin them.
• Assuming a garden bluebell must be native because it looks blue — Most garden bluebells in Britain are Spanish or hybrid. The native is much less common in cultivation.

Questions people ask