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Common Bluebell or English Bluebell
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Hyacinthaceae Genus: Hyacinthoides Species: H. non-scripta
Binomial name
Hyacinthoides non-scripta (L.) Chouard ex Rothm.

The Common Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta, syn. Endymion non-scriptus, Scilla non-scripta) is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant. It is native to the British Isles, the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern and western France, being replaced in Iberia by the similar Spanish Bluebell H. hispanica and in the central Mediterranean region by the Italian Bluebell H. italica.

The traditional name of "non-script" was intended to distinguish this plant from the classical hyacinth. The classical hyacinth was a flower described in Greek mythology that sprang from the blood of the dying prince Hyacinthus. As a mark of his grief on the death of the prince, Apollo inscribed the letters "AIAI".

A bluebell wood

The Common Bluebell flowers in April and May. The stems are 10-30 cm long and bend over at the top. The lavender-blue flowers are pendulous, bell-shaped and slightly fragrant. The anthers are yellowish-white.

In spring, many British woods are covered by dense carpets of this flower; these are commonly referred to as "bluebell woods". The bluebell that is the national flower of Scotland is not this species, but another unrelated plant Campanula rotundifolia also known as a Harebell.

It is common to find hybrids with the closely related Spanish Bluebell (a popular cultivated garden plant in Britain). There is concern that the native populations of H. non-scripta are endangered by this hybridisation. The hybrids may be distinguished by their broader, less pendulous flowers, often with darker anthers (pale purple in pure H. hispanica) and broader leaves.

In the United Kingdom the common bluebell is a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Landowners are prohibited from removing bluebells on their land for sale and it is a criminal offence to remove the bulbs of wild bluebells. This legislation was toughened up in 1998 under Schedule 8 of the Act: the trade in common bluebell bulbs or seeds is an offence.Thursford in East Anglia is a popular Bluebell reserve,and was subject to an act of vandalism in the mid 1990's,reported on the magazine show "Look East".Luckily,no protected species were badly damaged in the attempt.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hyacinthoides non-scripta

• The-Tree.org: Bluebell (includes key to identification of hybrids)
• British Wild Flowers: Hyacinthoides non-scripta