A stroll in our local nature reserve or park, or even just a walk down the street can bring us into contact with lots of different types of trees. Check out how to identify some of our common trees. We are just covering native species here, although there are lots of other more exotic species that you may see when you are out and about.
Oak leaves and acorns, by Philip Precey
Oak trees have easily identifiable indented leaves and throughout autumn shower the ground around them with acorns, providing a feast for squirrels and many other species. There are actually two types of oak trees in the UK; the pedunculate or English oak is more often found in lowland areas, whereas sessile oaks tend to populate the uplands of the north and west.
Oak trees are also one of our longest-lived species, some being over 1000 years old. You can identify an ancient oak as they tend to have wide, short, gnarled trunks which are often hollow. They will also often have a number of dead branches. These don’t do the tree any harm but provide a wonderful habitat for lots of wonderful invertebrates.
You can recognise oak trees in winter by looking at their shape. They are stocky trees, and their lower branches tend to spread out wide and low.
Sycamore leaves and keys, by Gillian Day
Sycamore trees have distinctive five-pointed leaves, often with a red stalk. Their seeds have ‘wings’ which makes them spin as they fall to earth. Young sycamores have smooth grey bark, but this becomes scaly and takes on a pink hue as they age. From a distance sycamore foliage has a rounded, fluffy, cloud-like appearance.
In winter sycamore trees can be recognised by looking at their large dome-like shape, with a high crown, coupled with identifying their bark.
Field maple leaf, by Philip Precey
Often mis-identified as a sycamore, the field maple is our only native maple species. The leaves have a similar five-pointed shape as the sycamore, but they are much smaller at about a third of the size and they have a smoother less serrated edge. Field maples have similar spinning seeds to sycamores, but they are set out in a straight line. They naturally don’t grow very large and have light brown flaky bark.
In winter you can identify field maples by looking out for their older twigs which have corky ridges and small grey leaf buds.
Beech leaves and beechmast - Gillian Day
Beech trees form dense majestic canopies, which cast so much shade that very little tends to live underneath them. The leaves of beech trees are shiny and oval shaped with hairy edges, turning to beautiful hues of red and orange in autumn. Beech seeds and nuts hide within prickly four-lobed seed cases known as beechmasts. The bark of beech trees is usually smooth and grey, and in older trees thick sections of their roots can be visible above ground.
Beech trees often hold their leaves in winter, known as marcescence, which is a great identification tool. You can also look out for their sharply pointed leaf buds which stand proud from their twigs.
Sweet chestnuts, by Jon Hawkins – Surrey Hills Photography
Sweet chestnut trees are native to the UK, whereas the horse chestnut, that great provider of conkers, was introduced to the UK from northern Greece and Albania in 1616 and has since become naturalised. Sweet chestnut trees have long leaves with large teeth along their edges. Their sweet edible fruits reside with soft spined cases which often contain two or three chestnuts.
In winter you can look out for the deep craggy bark which spirals up around sweet chestnut trees.
Alder leaf, by Philip Precey
Alder trees grow tall and slim. Their leaves are almost circular and have tiny serrations around the edges. In spring the branches of male alder trees are decorated with clumps of yellow catkins. Female alder trees produce berries which look like small pinecones. These start off green and deepen to brown in the autumn.
In winter you can spot alder trees by their distinctive shape and rough grey bark, often with clumps of younger shoots at the base. Female alder trees keep their distinctive berries all year round.
Scots pine, by Mark Hamblin/2020VISION
One of only three species of conifer native to the UK (along with yew and juniper), the Scots pine can grow up to 35m tall. The leaves are needle like with a blue-green colour and slightly twisted appearance. Pinecones develop after pollination, they are grey-brown with a raised bump at the centre of each scale.
Being evergreen, Scots pines can be identified by their maintaining their needles all year round.
Ash tree sapling, by Vaughn Matthews
Ash trees have compound leaves, which are usually made up of a number of pairs of oval ‘leaflets’ with a terminal leaflet at the end. The entire leaf can be up to 40cm long. Ash trees produce large clusters of single-winged fruits known as keys in summer and autumn.
Ash trees can be identified in winter by their distinctive black buds. These have a velvety feel and are arranged opposite each other along their smooth flattened twigs.
Lime tree, by Katrina Martin / 2020VISION
We have two species of lime tree native to the UK; the small-leaved lime and the large-leaved lime, although you are most likely to come across the common lime which is a hybrid of the two species. All lime trees have heart shaped leaves, with the leaves of smaller variety unsurprisingly being smaller than those of the large-leaved lime, between 3-8cm rather than 6-12cm.
Lime tree flowers have five green-yellow petals which hang in clusters of between four to ten. Once pollinated these then form into small brown fruits which are smooth with pointed tips. These hang from the centre of a thin leaves (bracts). You can tell the three species of lime trees apart by the hairs on the underside of their leaves. Common limes have tufts of white hairs in between the veins, on small-leaved limes these are a rusty red, and large-leaved limes have hairs all over the underside of their leaves.
You can identify lime trees in winter by their tall size and reddish tinge to their twigs.
Hazel catkins, by Philip Precey
Hazel are small trees that are often found in woodlands. They have small almost circular toothed leaves and are most identifiable in early spring when long yellow catkins appear before the leaves. In autumn small clusters of hazelnuts form. These start off green and then deepen to brown, and are surrounded by a woody shell and number of small leafy bracts (modified leaves).
The nuts are often still on the tree in winter which can help with identification, along with the grey-brown bark which tends to peel with age.
Yew with berries, by Amy Lewis
Best known for being planted in churchyards to ward off evil spirits, yew trees are another of our native conifers. They are our longest-lived species of tree, with the Fortingall Yew in Scotland being estimated at somewhere between 2,000 and 9,000 years old!
Yews can be identified by their glossy needles which grow in two rows on either side of the twig. They are dark green on the upper side and have a grey-green colour below. Bright red yew berries with a single dark seed appear in autumn.
The most common species of trees native to the UK are deciduous, meaning that they lose their leaves in winter, growing new leaves the following spring. However, we do have three native evergreen species: Scots pine, yew and juniper. Evergreen species keep their leaves all year round and their leaves have a needle shape, rather than the broad flat leaves which are associated with deciduous trees.
The leaves on many of our deciduous trees turn from green through beautiful shades of yellow, orange, red and brown before falling. Find out more about why this happens in our blog.
Trees are a vital part of our ecosystem, supporting the lives of many other species. Animals up and down the food chain depend on trees for food and shelter, including places for resting and nesting. Other plants rely on trees for their home and food too, and many species of fungi call both live and dead trees home.
Our venerable ancient oaks support over 2,300 different wildlife species – the older the oak, the more species they can support.
Many of our favourite mammals can be found in woodlands – think badgers snuffling from their setts under the roots of trees at dusk, red squirrels hopping from branch to branch, and the adorable hazel dormouse curling up for a sleep in a cosy lined tree hole.
Long-tailed tit, by Sarah Keast
So many of our birds rely on trees too, whilst nest sites spring to mind many of our birds also rely on the abundant food that trees provide. The silver birch for example is used by a whopping 300 species of insects for food and shelter – many of which provide food for birds such as long-tailed tits, siskin, redpoll and greenfinches.
And speaking of insects, the leaves of many trees are the favourite snack of lots of caterpillars. Crab apples leaves are munched by eyed hawk-moth and pale tussock caterpillars. Field maple leaves fill the tummies of mocha and maple pug caterpillars. And pale tussock and vapourer moth caterpillars are hardly choosy and will chomp away on the leaves of various trees.
Trees also provide vital nectar for many of our pollinators. Early emerging queen bumblebees are often fortified by nectar from catkins, one of the only food sources around when they are looking for places to build their nests and start that year’s colony. Later in the year the blossom of our many fruiting species can also become a veritable pollinator buffet.
Trees also provide the climbing frame for ivy, which provides a vital late season nectar source when it flowers right at the end of the growing season sustaining those late flying insects such as hoverflies, red admiral butterflies and other pollinating flies.
Happily, there are still lots of woodlands which you can visit right across our region, although as with so many of our habitats their number has significantly decreased. In fact, according to the National Forest Inventory, less than six per cent of Lancashire has tree cover, so we are working hard to protect and restore our remaining trees.
Boilton Wood by Alison Wellby
One of our best-preserved fragments of ancient woodland survives in Boilton Wood, which is accessible from our Brockholes nature reserve. To be classified as ancient woodland it has to have existed since at least the year 1600, although it is likely that Boilton Wood was there for many centuries before that.
Wander through the paths and you will be surrounded by towering trees covering an understory that changes throughout the year. In spring the ground is lit up by a carpet of vibrant bluebells, summer sees yellow iris, marsh marigold and meadowsweet bring pops of colour to marshy areas, whereas autumn sees numerous fungi erupt from the earth. Expect earth balls, candle snuff fungus and many more. The woods are also home to many of our favourite bird species, including the lovely nuthatch that can be observed running both up and down the tree trunks.
Mere Sands Wood by Tom McKibbin
This oasis of woodland and lakes is veritable wildlife haven. A mixture of broad-leaved and conifer trees provide shelter to an understory of marsh orchids, broad buckler ferns and fungi. Mere Sands Wood is also a birders paradise with over 170 bird species spotted and over 60 known to have bred. The trees are full of great spotted woodpeckers, bullfinches and tree sparrows, and the lakes attract everything from teal to kingfishers, grebes to bittern, and reed buntings to water rail.
There are also mammals galore. Roe deer, foxes and stoats stalk the undergrowth, red squirrels bound through the canopy, water vole inhabit the ditches, and bats swoop overhead. And a sunny day in summer will see the air thick with dragonflies, damselflies, moths and butterflies.
