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The Battle of the Native Bluebell UK – A 21st Century Armada. “There
is a silent eloquence ‘The Bluebell’ – Anne Bronte (1820-1849)
Photograph by Martin Hügi There is an advancing Armada of Spanish Bluebell flotillas in our midst, a silent battle waging that threatens not only to invade but overcome the beloved native British bluebell’s woodland environment. It is spreading fast, and projected to perhaps wipe out the native scented species within a decade. The bluebell is a precious part of our emotional history and still stirs the psyche with its mysterious massed blue woodland’s mists and delicate scent. Oscar Wilde, Emily of the Bronte sisters and Anne Bronte both wrote poems about the flowering bluebell that evoke a very special place in our hearts. Many famous and classic poets mentioned them, such as Percy Bysshe Shelley and A.E. Housman. Bluebells herald the spring, albeit spring gets earlier every year. On 13th April, in Devon, some bluebells in sheltered spots were waving their banners in the chill breeze. Gardeners beware! One of the major problems is that the Spanish Bluebell, introduced to British gardens more than 300 years ago, hybridizes with our native flowers producing tougher plants with dominant genes that are hardier than our fragile British variety. The fertile Spanish bluebell’s hybrid’s breeding capacity is not confined to the garden and British gardeners are warned to form a voluntary Bluebell Task Force to halt the proliferation of this environmental interloper. “A report from the charity Plantlife International urges gardeners who live near woodland to plant the traditional British bluebell to help stave off the risk of extinction.” We owe the British bluebell more than sentiment or nostalgia. Although little used in medicine come the second quarter of the 20th century, the bulb has a diuretic and styptic properties and was used for leucorrhoea1. Tennyson was not the only one who used Bluebell juice to cure snake-bite. Bluebell bulbs were known then to contain inulin and mucilage and had a variety of other uses. In the Elizabethan era it was a substitute for starch and used for linen ruffs etc. It was also employed as bookbinder’s gum. John Gerard informs us” that it was used for setting feathers upon arrows”, which must have been important for hunting or war before guns were common. It has been said that in the 13th century Welsh monks used the bluebell flower to treat lepers. However, again back in Wales, the exciting news was announced in January 1998 that our common bluebell flower not only contains about 15 biologically active compounds that defend it against animals and insect pests, it has a potentially highly valuable agri-chemical known as DMDP “in bucket loads” that can be used to protect other plants from a worm-like soil nematode, but that certain bluebell extracts – water-soluble alkaloids – were thought to have properties that may combat HIV infection and cancer2.
COMMENT: The wild variety of Spanish Bluebells is a violet-blue; the cultivated varieties come in varying shades of blue, some in pink or white, and are one of the tallest of the Scilla and is more ‘erect’ in growth than the British wild variety that initially ‘droops’ to protect it’s pollen from rain and only becomes erect after fertilization. For identification purposes: Our scented native British Bluebell’s Latin name is Hyacinthoides non-scripta, the scentless native Spanish and Portuguese invader is an aggressive grower called Scilla hispanica. If unsure of species labelling, check it out on www.floralocale.org which recommends good local suppliers who have signed up to a code of practice drawn up by Plantlife. The wild British bluebell grows in loam, whereas the Spanish bluebell will grow in shade and in most types of soil and even where grass won’t! An advantage in some forsaken garden corner plot perhaps, but if your garden is near woodland where the wild British bluebell grows - Don’t do it please. Better still; grow native British bluebells to help counteract the increase of the invasion. Refs: 1. Mrs Grieves Herbal. 2. Dr Alison Watson, senior natural products chemist, Institute of Grassland & Environmental Research, Aberystwyth.
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