A wood covered in sheets of bluebells in spring is a peculiar north-west European phenomenon, with Britain having more bluebells than any other country.
However, a creeping menace is stalking our woodlands, including those of Allestree Park, in the form of the Spanish bluebell. This has been planted in gardens for many years because it is easier to grow than our native British bluebell – also many bluebell bulbs sold by some garden centres and commercial suppliers are called ‘British native bluebells’ when, in fact, they are the Spanish ones!
The trouble is, the Spanish species has ‘escaped’ into our woodlands and is the worst enemy of the native bluebell because it will hybridise with it. When it does, because its genes are dominant, the traits of the British bluebell disappear within a very few generations.
You might think ‘so what – a bluebell is a bluebell’. Not so. The illustrations here show the differences between the two species.
The British Native bluebell is more delicate than its Spanish relative, with the intensely blue flowers borne on one side of the slightly drooping stem. The Spanish bluebell has broader leaves, paler and larger flowers which have a more compact bell-shape, borne on a straight quite thick stem. The Spanish bluebell has a rather stiff and erect 'habit', easy to spot from a distance once you 'get your eye in'. Another, usually reliable, difference is that the stamens of the Spanish species are blue (greenish blue when the pollen is shed), whereas the stamens of the British bluebell are always yellow. There are white or pink-petalled varieties of both species, by the way.
Pictures by Bill Grange
Spanish bluebells have managed to enter our woodlands, including those of Allestree Park – especially Big wood on the western side of the Park, by people dumping garden rubbish and, in a few cases, by well-meaning people actually planting bulbs of the Spanish bluebell in the woods!
In some areas of the woods, Spanish bluebells are already dominant. It will be a very difficult task to eradicate these but, in the meantime, please compost your garden waste and never plant anything from your garden in the Park!
Large areas of the woods formerly covered in bluebells have been trampled to a desert by countless human feet. In 2008 year the Friends, working with Derbyshire Conservation Volunteers started some footpath management in Big Wood to help to cut down this erosion and give the bluebells a chance to come back. Already, this has paid off and bluebells are thriving in areas where they were formerly struggling.
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