Find Us First: The Nations Favourite Bluebell Flower is Under Threat

Hyacinthoides non-scripta (formerly Endymion non-scriptus or Scilla non-scripta) is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is known in English as the common bluebell or simply bluebell, a name which is used in Scotland to refer to the harebell, Campanula rotundifolia.

Bluebells are particularly associated with ancient woodland where it may dominate the understorey to produce carpets of violet, blue flowers in "bluebell woods", but also occurs in more open habitats in western regions. It is protected under UK law, and in some other parts of its range.

A bluebell wood is a woodland that in springtime has a flooring of flowering bluebells underneath a newly forming leaf canopy. The thicker the summer canopy, the more the good ground-cover is suppressed, encouraging a thick carpet of bluebells, whose leaves mature and die down by early summer. Other common woodland plants which accompany bluebells include the Yellow Rattle and the anemone or Anemone nemorosa.

The Battle of Britains Native Bluebells in Florists in Rottingdean

The UK's woodlands are home to almost 50% of the worldwide population of our native bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta). With its exclusive scent and the very delicate form and structure of the flowers, it is an extremely special flower claim experts.

"We have some of the best bluebell carpets in the world," says Katie Lewthwaite of the Woodland Trust. "People don't necessarily realise, but we've got just the right damp climate for them."

The blanket of intense blue flowers, with their distinctive perfume, has for centuries been a source of captivation for springtime wanderers in the countryside, but is under threat from pollution, the encroachment of urbanisation. This is mainly from an aggressive hybrid. And with the UK being home to such a large chunk of the world's population, it means this bluebell is threatened on a global scale. It's a massive cause for concern for conservationists and Florists in Rottingdean.

Many of the bluebells found in our gardens and urban areas are not the traditional British flower, they are in fact an aggressive hybrid (Hyacinthoides x massartiana) - the product of cross-breeding between the native bluebell and the Spanish variety (Hyacinthoides hispanica).

This hybrid was initially recorded in the wild in 1963. It's highly fertile and has spread rapidly in the UK's urban areas.