Hybrid bluebell?
Garden noob
Posts: 260
in Plants
Last year I planted some native bluebells and have gone to great lengths to eliminate our Spanish bluebells. I'm concerned that this one looks suspiciously like a hybrid though, and maybe one or two others too. What do you reckon?
From what I gather, it's not always easy to spot hybrids as they can be anything from very Spanish-looking to very native-looking. Does anyone have any tips?
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Hyacinthoides non scripta our native bluebell flowers have white-cream coloured pollen.
This is an identifying characteristic. Non-native Spanish bluebells have blue pollen.
To muddy the water..... Hyacinthoides × massartiana is a hybrid species produced by crosses between the common bluebell, H. non-scripta and the Spanish bluebell, H. hispanica.
Whatever Silfer surfer says, it's going to be accurate and useful. Trust me!!
This bluebell looks like a hybrid IMO. The curling-up of the petals around the edges could pass as English but it's the pale colour, rounded flower heads and antler colour that seems suspect.
Many Bluebells are preparing for a journey back into the soil so may look dishevelled in places (antlers first) but the slender, tubular, elongated bell shape of the English species seems to be missing altogether from this plant. I'd bin it
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