A field guide to Leaves
Twelve trees and how to know them by their leaves
Twelve common trees and how to tell them apart by their leaves: oak, sycamore, beech, birch, horse chestnut, ginkgo and more, each with its leaf shape, edge and fruit.
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- Pedunculate Oak Quercus robur Rounded lobes · acorns on stalks
- Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus Five lobes · paired winged seeds
- European Beech Fagus sylvatica Wavy, untoothed · beechnuts
- Silver Birch Betula pendula Diamond, double-toothed · catkins
- Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum Five to seven leaflets · conkers
- Large-leaved Lime Tilia platyphyllos Heart-shaped · nutlets on a bract
- Ash Fraxinus excelsior 9–13 toothed leaflets · keys
- Ginkgo Ginkgo biloba Fan-shaped, notched · fleshy seeds
- London Plane Platanus × hispanica Three to five lobes · seed balls
- Rowan Sorbus aucuparia 11–19 toothed leaflets · berries
- Common Walnut Juglans regia 5–9 smooth-edged leaflets · walnuts
- Hornbeam Carpinus betulus Pleated, double-toothed · nutlets
Leaves are not drawn to a common scale; fruits are shown smaller.
Horse chestnut, ash, rowan and walnut have compound leaves – each drawing shows one whole leaf.