Short description of Hyacinthoides non-scripta x hispanica = H. x massartiana, Bluebell

The hybrid is distinguished from Spanish Bluebells in having flower spikes that are drooping at the tip and flowers that are more tubular and with anthers that are paler blue than the sepals. In comparison, native bluebell flower spikes are more one-sided, and pendent at the tip with cream anthers (never blue) and a strong, sweet scent. Introgression is common leading to a whole range of intermediates that are closer to either parent.

Impact summary: Hyacinthoides non-scripta x hispanica = H. x massartiana, Bluebell

The main impact is hybridisation and introgression with native bluebells thereby reducing the genetic integrity of British populations which are of international importance. The evidence for this is currently weak as current levels of invasion of the habitat of native bluebell is still very small.

Habitat summary: Hyacinthoides non-scripta x hispanica = H. x massartiana, Bluebell

A variety of lightly shaded or open lowland habitats usually near to habitation including small woods, scrub, hedgerows, churchyards and cemeteries, coastal grassland and sand dunes, riverbanks, railway and roadside verges, tracksides and waste ground. Hybrids also occur in ancient woods but usually on the margins where they have usually been discarded.

Overview table

Environment	Terrestrial
Species status	Hybrid GB
Native range
Functional type	Land plant
Status in England	Hybrid GB
Status in Scotland	Hybrid GB
Status in Wales	Hybrid GB
Location of first record	v.c.112 (Scousburgh)
Date of first record	1953

Origin

The parents of H. x massartiana, include H. hispanica from the Iberian peninsula and the native H. non-scripta. Its origin is obscure but it probably originated spontaneously through hybridisation between H. hispanica and H. non-scripta in a British garden sometime during the 18th century as it was first reported in cultivation in 1808.

First Record

The hybrid was first recorded in the wild in the London area in 1923 and then in Shetland in 1953.

Pathway and Method

Since it was first recorded in cultivation the hybrid has been widely planted (much moreso than H. hispanica) in both public and private gardens from where it has escaped into the wild. Due to confusion with H. hispanica its early spread was largely missed by British botanists but since the 1980s recorders have become more familiar with it and since 2000 it has been recorded in around 70% of hectads in Great Britain, making it one of the most widespread naturalised aliens in the country.

Species Status

The hybrid is currently only known from Britain and the Iberian Peninsula where the two parents co-occur as natives and hybridise spontaneously where their ranges overlap.

Dispersal Mechanisms

In some sites the hybrid appears to have arisen spontaneously by hybridisation between H. hispanica and native bluebells but in most cases its presence in the wild is a result of the dispersal of seed from gardens or, possibly more significantly, from bulbs discarded in garden waste, often close to habitation, on the edges of small woods or on roadsides. Its frequent occurrence close to streams suggests that seed or bulbs are also effectively dispersed by water.

Reproduction

Hybrid bluebells are self-compatible and pollinated by long-tongued insects. They display no less fertility than their parents producing around 35 large seeds per flower. They also spread rapidly underground producing new bulbs on small runners. Hybrids take between 5 and 20 years to flower following seed germination and so establishment from seed is likely to be a slow process whereas regeneration from discarded bulbs is likely to more rapid and possibly the main way they have spread throughout Great Britain in recent decades.

Known Predators/Herbivores

None known.

Resistant Stages

None known.

Habitat Occupied in GB

Hybrid Bluebells are widespread in urban woods and small roadside woods and shelter belts, scrub, hedgerows, churchyards and cemeteries, coastal grassland and sand dunes, and on riverbanks and streamsides, railway embankments, roadside verges, ditchsides, tracksides and waste ground (Stace et al., 2015). They are rarely found in deep shade and where present in ancient woods they usually occur near to the boundary.

Hybrid bluebell is widespread and has been recorded in around 70% of hectads in Britain since 2000. It is most common in lowland regions especially close to the urban centres in southeast England, the Midlands, northwest England and central Scotland as well as more rural regions such as west Cornwall, Somerset and east Norfolk although this may reflect better recording in those counties. It is very sparsely distributed in upland regions and is virtually absent from montane regions of Wales, northern England and Scotland and the Hebrides.

Environmental Impact

The potential impact of hybrids on native bluebells has been much discussed, not least because British populations are internationally important and protected by law (Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981). In southern Scotland, Kohn et al. (2009) found that there were more populations of H. hispanica and hybrids than native bluebells, but that they were concentrated closer to towns and cities and only represented 1% of all the bluebells present. They concluded that, given the overwhelming dominance of native bluebells at most sites, the overall threat from hybridisation or direct competition was likely to be very low. Further research from Chater, 2010 and Leslie, 2019, supports this conclusion.

Health and Social Impact

None known.

Economic Impact

None known.

Identification

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/application/files/9614/8155/3587/GuidetoBritainsBluebells.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGrWkRw70JU https://www.wildsheffield.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/bluebell-leaflet.pdf

Biology, ecology, spread, vectors

http://ecoflora.org.uk

Management and impact

Chater, A.O. 2010. Flora of Cardiganshire. Privately published. Kohn, D.D., Hulme, P., Hollingsworth, P.D. & Butler, A. 2009. Are native bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) at risk from alien congenerics? Evidence from distributions and co-occurrence in Scotland. Biological Conservation 142, 61-74. Leslie, A.C. 2019. Flora of Cambridgeshire. Royal Horticultural Society, Peterborough.

General

Dines, T.D. 2005. Stop picking on bluebells. BSBI News 98, 26-27. Plantlife, 2004. Bluebells for Britain. A report on the 2003 Bluebells for Britain survey. Plantlife, Salisbury. https://www.plantlife.org.uk/application/files/6014/8155/5822/Bluebells_for_Britain.pdf Stace, C.E., Preston, C.D. & Pearman, D.A. 2015. Hybrid flora of the British Isles. Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Bristol.