noun

• 1

  (also English bluebell)

  A European woodland plant of the lily family that produces clusters of blue bell-shaped flowers in spring.

  Hyacinthoides or 'Endymion' nonscripta, family Liliaceae

  ‘Daffodils, wild hyacinths and tulips, snowdrops, bluebells, daisies and buttercups littered the earth.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The gardens are bounded by rhododendrons as well as azaleas, while in the woodlands there are snowdrops, bluebells, daffodils and narcissi.’
  • ‘Autumn is the time to put in bulbs for early spring including snow-drops, daffodils, crocuses, lilies and bluebells.’
  • ‘Walkers have complained that the activity spoiled their peace and say that the bikes have ruined ruin paths by causing deep ruts which will stop spring flowers such as bluebells and daffodils from making their usual appearance.’
  • ‘One of its manifestations was naturalistic sweeps of winter aconite, bluebells, daffodils or anemones multiplying by the thousands in woodlands.’
  • ‘With spring quickly leading into summer, and our roadsides having gone from daffodils to bluebells to wild garlic, it is hard to imagine flowers being endangered species.’
  • ‘We may see fewer daffodils, bluebells, snowdrops and crocuses, because they like winter cold; and tulips, irises and cyclamens, because they will suffer from winter wet.’
  • ‘Species propagated from bulbs, such as hyacinths, daffodils, snowdrops, bluebells and irises, often require cold winter temperatures to stimulate root development.’
  • ‘The daffodils seem to have gone over very quickly whilst spring bulbs like bluebells and wood anemones are rushing into flower.’
  • ‘Banks of primroses, drifts of bluebells and clusters of cowslips are now found only in secret, out-of-the-way places or where they have been carefully preserved.’
  • ‘The creamy white hawthorn blossom puts on a spectacular show and woodland bluebells and yellow furze bushes give us a dazzling display of colour.’
  • ‘Victims of this form of offence have tended to be the more charismatic species such as bluebells, orchids, snowdrops and water lilies, yet some lichens and mosses have also suffered.’
  • ‘As spring progresses, daffodils will fade and be replaced with bluebells and tulips, but at the moment they have centre stage, filling the garden with their yellow, white, orange and occasionally pink trumpets.’
  • ‘The entrance is one of the more picturesque in the Dales, especially in spring when the sides are a mass of colour from bluebells, wild garlic, and primroses.’
  • ‘I'm going to paint among the wild flowers of oak woods - primroses, bluebells, anemones and wild garlic, above an estuary as the tide ebbs and flows.’
  • ‘This is a good place to catch a profuse carpet of bluebells in spring, and there are giant redwoods with girths large enough to be encircled by ten or more people standing hand to hand.’
  • ‘I'm disappointed that due to work I didn't do any woodland walking during early May when the bluebells carpet the woodland floor with their vivid flowers.’
  • ‘And when you see the bluebells in the spring and the wild thyme, and the broom and the heather, you're seeing what their eyes saw.’
  • ‘The place is renowned for its fine trees and primeval oak wood, which is carpeted with bluebells in spring.’
  • ‘Velvety bluebells that had sprung up here and there on the slopes began to shed off their soft blankets of dewdrops as the sun and wind woke them and spread their petals invitingly.’

• 2Any of a number of other plants with blue bell-shaped flowers.

  another term for bellflowerchiefly Scottish term for harebellanother term for squill and other scillasshort for Virginia bluebella plant of the bellflower family (genus Wahlenbergia, family Campanulaceae), distributed mostly in the southern hemisphere, e.g., the Australian bluebell (W. gloriosa)

  ‘In amongst the shrubs and trees are many more delights both indigenous and exotic, in the form of plants such as Spanish bluebells and South African gazanias.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Spanish bluebell is a good bet everywhere except the intermediate and low deserts.’
  • ‘This comes from the Spanish bluebell which can be purchased in some garden centres.’