Recording the habitat

Descriptions of typical habitats where bellflowers are likely to be growing are given below.

We do not want records of bellflowers from gardens or from areas where they have obviously been planted.

Habitat type	Habitat definition and notes
Chalk/limestone grassland	Vegetation containing a mixture of grasses and wildflowers indicative of chalk and limestone such as Rock-rose and Fairy flax Includes downland.
Other grassland	Other grassland that is not on chalk or lime stone soils.
Rocky ledges/cliffs	Natural and artificially exposed rock surfaces that are almost entirely lacking in vegetation, including quarries and scree.
Roadsides	Bellflowers may be growing on grassy verges or along wooded edges of roads.
Fixed dunes	Vegetation covers most of the sand and other plants include Marram grass, Ladies bedstraw and Wild thyme.
Scrub/open woodland	Wet or dry woodland, but will mostly be fairly sunny and open.
Riversides	Bellflowers may be found alongside water courses, particularly those with wooded edges.
Hedgerows/Hedgebanks	Bellflowers may be found along hedgerows and hedges associated with earth banks.
Heathland	Heath family or gorse.
Other	e.g. waste ground

The main habitats in which the different bellflowers occur are shown in the table below, with an indication of how the different species are distributed throughout the UK.

Main Habitats		Distribution
A Harebell C. rotundifolia	Dry, open, infertile habitats including grassland, fixed dunes, rock ledges, roadsides and railway banks. It tolerates a wide range of soil pH, being found on both mildly acidic and calcareous substrates.	Throughout the UK, but rare in the SW.
B Clustered C. glomerata	Calcareous grassland, scrub, open woodland, cliffs and sand dunes. It is most frequent on chalk and limestone. It also occurs as a garden escape on roadsides and waste ground.	Patchy in Eng, rare in Scot and Wales, not in N.I.
C Giant C. latifolia	Damp woodland,wooded riversides and hedgerows,usually on fertile, neutral or calcareous soils. It also occurs as a garden escape on waste ground, roadsides and hedge banks.	Throughout Britain, but rarer in S. Eng.
D Spreading C. patula	Dry, well-drained, sunny sites on fairly infertile sandy or gravelly soils. It is found in open woodland and on banks and rock outcrops.	Few are in Wales, rare in Eng and none in Scot and N.I.
E Nettle-leaved C. trachelium	Dry, base-rich, usually calcareous soils in woodland, scrubby grassland and hedge banks. It also occurs as a garden escape on a wider range of soils and habitats.	Southern half of Britain, but not SW Eng and W Wales.

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