Contrary to Anne Brontë’s opinion, words can tell us much about the European Blue bell Hyacinthoides non-scripta (referred to hereafter as ‘Bluebell’), even inspiring a sort of bliss in the biologist. She may have been moved by their silent eloquence, an emotional state that many of us might have experienced on entering a springtime wood, but there is more to these plants – much more – in full view as well as out of sight, below ground.
Hoping to heighten awareness of and interest in previously overlooked aspects of the flower’s somewhat secretive lifestyle, James Merryweather describes the annual life cycle of Bluebells and explains the fascinating underground processes of their ‘dormant’ months.