Bluebells at Cranford Park - 2020 the year there was no Bluebell Walk

Today, I would have been helping lead the annual guided Bluebell Walk at Cranford CP with Bob Barton, but instead I will be on lockdown miles away. 

Below are the notes that I have used for the last two years covering fables, folklore, decline, facts and identification of our native bluebells compared to the non-native Spanish hybrids. Hopefully this time next year, things will be back to normal. 

The Common English Bluebell

The Bluebell by Emily Bronte 1838

The Bluebell is the sweetest flower

That waves in summer air

Its blossoms have the mightiest power

To soothe my spirits care

Fables and folklore

Bluebells are ‘fairy flowers’ used by the fairies to trap humans who trespass.



If a child picked a bluebell they would never be seen again.



If an adult picked one they would wander lost and be led astray by pixies, unless they were rescued.



By walking through wild bluebells, the flowers would ‘ring’ and alert the fairies.



Any humans that could hear the ringing bells would soon die.



Common bluebells were also called ‘wood bells’, ‘calverkeys’, ‘deadmens bells’, ‘Ring-o-bells’, ‘bell bottle’, ‘wild hyacinth’ and ‘auld man’s bells’.



It was believed to be unlucky to have bluebells brought into the house.



In the language of flowers the bluebell means humility and constancy.



If you wore a wreath of bluebells you would be compelled to tell the truth.



The flowers could be used in a love spell. If you turned one of them inside out without tearing it you would win the one you love.



The flowers also represent rebirth so were often planted on graves to comfort mourning visitors.

The decline of Bluebells

True native English/Common Bluebells are in decline and this is due to several factors as listed in no particular order below:-



Habitat loss – ancient woodland in some parts of England are still being cleared to make way for housing, roads, incinerators, schools and industrial estates.



Over eager collectors – true English/Common Bluebells are highly valued and in the past bulbs were often dug up in great quantities to sell on to unscrupulous garden centres.



Spanish Bluebells – garden escapees have interbred with our native ones and produced hybrid versions of the bluebell that have characteristics of both species.



Muntjac Deer – these small deer find bluebells delicious but they are not ‘herd’ deer like the Red or Fallow so any damage is generally done by a solo or pair of Muntjacs and is fairly minimal.


Climate change - some research has recently shown the slowly altering daylight hours may impact on when certain plants come into flower, although studies are still ongoing

Identifying bluebells

There are two species of bluebell: Common (English) and Spanish. As names suggest the Spanish variety is generally found in Spain, but decades ago gardeners started planting these for ornamental reasons. These non-native ones eventually self-seeded into the wild and started hybridising with our Common ones.



There are several ways to tell them apart:-

   Common Bluebell has aromatic sweet scent. Spanish hybrid Bluebell has no scent.

   Common bare flowers on one side of drooping stem. Hybrid flower on both sides.

   Common are blue violet colour, quite bright and vivid. Hybrid are a bit paler and duller.

   Common has yellow creamy white anthers. Hybrid has blue anthers.

   Common has delicate slender arching stems. Hybrid has thicker upright stems.

   Common has long thin leaves. Hybrid has thicker, strap like leaves.

   The outer parts of the Common Bluebell flower is recurved (ie they curve back in on themselves) but the Spanish and hybrid Bluebell have a more bell shaped flower.

Luckily in Cranford Woods we only have a small patch of hybrid bluebells at the moment and we are lucky enough to have the occasional pure white true albino Common Bluebell, which is quite rare and caused by the flower having no blue pigment.

native

non-native

Facts

Britain is home to more than half of the worlds population of Common Bluebells.

Bluebells are classed as poisonous. They contain 15 biologically active compounds to defend themselves against animal and insect pests.

Studies are now ongoing to see if the same compounds can be used to help treat cancer.

They were previously used by herbalists to treat nightmares, leprosy, spider and snake bites and TB.

The sap from the bulb was used as a glue for bookbinding as it is so toxic it stopped certain insects attacking the binding.

The sap was also used by medieval archers to secure the flight feathers to their arrows.

The first bluebells appeared in Britain after the last Ice Age.

It takes five years for a bluebell seed to grow into a bulb.

Butterflies, hoverflies and bees rely heavily on the nectar in the spring.

Bees occasionally ‘steal’ the nectar by biting a hole in the bottom of the bell.

A spread of Common Bluebells in woodland is a good indicator of ancient woodland. Before 1600 it was rare to plant new woodland so any existing woodland before that time would have naturally grown and therefore could be of special scientific or historical interest.

Bluebells and the law

Common/English Bluebells are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act, schedule 8, 1981. It is an offence to dig up and sell wild bluebell bulbs. The fine is £5000 per bulb unless you can prove that the Landowner gave you permission to remove them.

It is also illegal to dig up the bulbs to plant in your own garden. Any trade in the seeds and bulbs is only possible in the UK with a special permit.

However……..picking bluebell flowers is not really against the law as no damage is actually being done to the bulbs. It only breaks the law if the picked bluebells are being put up for sale. But it is a nationally recognised code of conduct that Common/English Bluebells should not be picked or trampled.