Where does the common garden bluebell originate from?
Lily family – Liliaceae The Bluebell is a perennial herb that grows in spring from bulbs that stay in the soil over winter. The shoots emerge from early January, before trees’ leaves block a large proportion of the available sunlight. The bluebell sets seeds profusely and also multiplies by offshoots from its bulbs. As a result it can be a dominant species that carpets the woodland floor early in the spring. The drooping, blue bell shaped flowers, which give the plant its most common name, appear from April to June. Other local names, which mainly refer to the flowers, include Auld Man’s Bell, Calverkeys, Jacinth, Wilde Hyacint and Wood Bells. The flowers may be violet-blue, white or even pink on rare occasions. The part of the scientific name ‘non-scripta’ means ‘unlettered’, and distinguishes this species from the ancestor of cultivated hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis), which in Greek mythology grew from the blood of the prince Hyacinthus as he died. The God Apollo wrote ‘AI AI’, wh
