Phil Bendle Collection:Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Bluebell)

Kingdom: Plantae
unranked: Angiosperms
unranked: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Scilloideae
Genus: Hyacinthoides
Species: H. non-scripta
Binomial name: Hyacinthoides non-scripta
Synonyms: Endymion non-scriptum, Scilla non-scripta, Agraphis nutans
Common names: Bluebells, English bluebell, Common Bluebell

Hyacinthoides non-scripta is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant introduced from Europe were the Elizabethans obtained starch from the bulbs. The sticky sap was used as a glue for glueing pages in books and for attaching feathers to arrow shafts. They are protected in England. In New Zealand, they are a garden escapee found on roadsides.
The flowers are lavender-blue, pendulous, tubular with the petals recurved only at the end. The flower stem is 10–30 cm long and bends over at the top. The anthers are yellowish-white or cream and are attached more than halfway up on the inside of the tube. The flowers are pleasantly and usually strongly scented and its leaves are basal and linear.

Plants in New Zealand are likely to be a hybrid between H. non-scripta and H. hispanica, or just H. hispanica. While H. non-scripta is the name on many bluebells sold in New Zealand, there is some doubt as to whether H. non-scripta actually exists here. It is a darker blue with a nodding stem.

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Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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