Forest of Marston Vale – Bluebells

Bluebells

Bluebell displays are one of the wild highlights of the spring season. The delicate flowers grow in dense carpets of blue in woodlands across the UK. The British Isles are an important stronghold for this species, with almost half the global population found here.

As well as being a spectacular sight for nature lovers, the humble bluebell plays an important role for pollinating insects. Flowering from late April, the bluebell provides a vital early nectar source for a variety of insects including peacock, orange-tip and brimstone butterflies and many bumblebees.

Bluebells flower before the leaves on trees have fully opened, putting their energy into growth early in the year to make the most of the sun streaming through the lean woodland canopy.

Bluebells are chiefly pollinated by bumblebees, and you’ll often hear their steady, productive drone as you wander through a bluebell wood. Sometimes however, the bees don’t play fair, and are known to occasionally bite a tiny hole into the bottom of the bell to extract the flower’s sweet nectar. When this happens, the bee fails to come into contact with the pollen so won’t do its usual pollination job when it visits another flower.

As well as reproducing sexually, by producing seed, bluebells will also sometimes reproduce asexually by natural vegetative propagation, that is, by producing bulbs. Because of its methods of reproduction, bluebells spread very slowly, and for this reason the flower is often used as an ‘Ancient Woodland Indicator’. What this means is that their presence is used to help conservationists identify what is an ancient woodland habitat.

The seeds of the bluebell are large and heavy, falling and growing directly adjacent to the parent plant, so a dense carpet takes a very long time to establish. For a large carpet of bluebells to become established, a woodland habitat must have been present for many years.

Bluebells

well as bluebells. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee reports that only 1.2% of woodland in Great Britain is classed as ‘ancient’. Ancient woodlands that are of most ecological value will usually not just support bluebells but a mixture of other woodland flowers. Other ‘indicator species’ include wood anemone, wood sorrel, herb Paris, dog’s mercury or wild daffodil, to name a few, all of which are similarly slow at spreading.

As well as looking out for bluebells in their typical ancient woodland habitat, you might also find them in hedgerows where they may have spread from a nearby woodland, re-planted woodland where former ancient woodland existed, grassland or even heathland.

Although widespread, the bluebell is at risk from a number of threats, including habitat loss, climate change and hybridisation (cross-breeding) with non-native Spanish bluebells. This hybridisation with Spanish bluebells is changing the genetic make-up of British bluebells irreversibly to produce hybrid bluebells, effectively undoing thousands of years of evolution in a very short timescale.

In urban areas in particular the survival of the British bluebell is becoming increasingly threatened through hybridisation. Spanish bluebells often spread from gardens and parks where they are planted, and can also be present in waste garden material that is dumped in woodlands, further accelerating the problem.

Spanish bluebells spread much quicker than native British bluebells as they more commonly multiply through bulb division than native bluebells as well as producing seeds. This trait has also been passed onto the hybrid offspring which are spreading quickly and displacing the native bluebell.

To minimise the impact of hybridisation, it is really important that Spanish bluebell bulbs are disposed of carefully, and you should avoid growing them completely if your garden backs onto woodland. Spanish bluebells spread quickly and often require control. If you’re disposing of them, don’t add them to the compost heap. Instead put them in a black bin bag and leave for a year before composting.

We’ve got some fantastic displays of bluebells in the Forest of Marston Vale, including Marston Thrift, Kempston Wood and Hanger Wood – we’d love to see your photos if you’re visiting! Share them with us on Instagram @forest_centre

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