Identify trees by their bark

Bark is there all year, so it names a tree in winter when the leaves have gone. Look at an older trunk: is it smooth, cut into ridges, broken into plates, or peeling?

Smooth

Smooth to the touch, sometimes with faint lines or marks.

  • BeechFaint lines running across
  • HornbeamSilver or orange marks running up, lumpy with age
  • RowanSilvery grey with dark dashes across
  • AspenCream, with bands of small black diamonds
  • A fir, such as noble firResin blisters, on a conifer
Common beech: barkCommon beechSmooth silvery grey with faint horizontal lines Hornbeam: barkEwan Shilland, CC BY 4.0HornbeamSmooth grey, ridged like muscle, with wriggling marks Rowan: barkanguspritchard, CC BY 4.0RowanSmooth silvery grey, streaked with short dark dashes Aspen: barkjamie-aa, CC BY 4.0AspenCream, banded with small black diamonds Noble fir: barkNoble firSmooth pale grey with resin blisters Common whitebeam: barkEric Tittley, CC BY 4.0Common whitebeamGrey and smooth, a few cracks with age Copper beech: barkVictor Heng, CC BY 4.0Copper beechSmooth thin grey, with a graft swelling low down Downy birch: barkDowny birchGreyish white with grey bands, pale to the foot Holly: barkKieran Roy Powell, CC BY 4.0HollySmooth-looking, brownish grey, with small warts Tree of heaven: barkTree of heavenDark grey, smooth, with fine pale vertical streaks White poplar: barkLogan, CC BY 4.0White poplarPale grey, with rows of black diamonds

Peeling

Coming away in strips, flakes or papery layers.

  • Silver birchWhite, turning black and rough at the foot
  • Wild cherryShiny strips peeling level, banded with raised pores
  • Scots pinePapery orange high up, plates or ridges at the foot
  • London planeShallow scales of grey and cream
  • EucalyptusFresh patches greenish white or pink, curls hanging from the limbs
Silver birch: barkSilver birchWhite, peeling, with black diamonds at the base Wild cherry: barkWild cherryCream bands ring the trunk, craggy when old Scots pine: barkScots pineGreyish brown plates below, orange papery above London plane: barkLondon planePatchwork of grey, cream and olive Eucalyptus: barkJon Sullivan, CC BY 4.0EucalyptusFlakes into a patchwork of cream, pink and grey Yew: barkYewGrey, purple and red, shallowly scaling

Ridged and furrowed

Cut into ridges with grooves between them.

English oak: barkEnglish oakGrey, short deep knobbly ridges Common ash: barkJan Sheppard, CC BY 4.0Common ashPale grey, in a shallow criss-cross network Sweet chestnut: barkjamie-aa, CC BY 4.0Sweet chestnutRidges that spiral round an old trunk Black poplar: barkZeke Marshall, CC BY 4.0Black poplarDark and deeply cracked, studded with burrs Common lime: sprouts and burrsCommon limeTwiggy sprouts and knobbly burrs round the foot Alder: barkJan Sheppard, CC BY 4.0AlderBrown, in close deep square plates Bay willow: barkBay willowDark grey, scaling into crossing ridges Cedar of Lebanon: barkMichael and Antoni Hinczewski, CC BY 4.0Cedar of LebanonBlackish brown, close ridges and deep cracks Cherry plum: barkjamie-aa, CC BY 4.0Cherry plumDark grey, with rows of small white pores Corsican pine: barknaturalist charlie, CC BY 4.0Corsican pineGreyish mauve, wide cracks between big scaly plates Douglas fir: barkBarry Walter, CC BY 4.0Douglas firResin blisters when young, deep corky ridges later Elder: barkGlossysun (Sunny Pearce), CC BY 4.0ElderCreamy grey, corky, in criss-cross ridges European larch: barkEuropean larchPinkish brown, with wide criss-crossing scaly ridges Field elm: barkWendy Herniman, CC BY 4.0Field elmGreyish brown, with ridges crossing Field maple: barkWendy Herniman, CC BY 4.0Field maplePale brown, close ridges, cracking into small squares Ginkgo: barkCassian, CC BY 4.0GinkgoGreyish brown and corky, craggy with age Hawthorn: barkNick Butcher, CC BY 4.0HawthornBrown, with shallow scaly ridges in a spiral Honey locust: barkHoney locustPurplish grey, wide ridges, spine clumps Japanese larch: barkMarco Mussita, CC BY 4.0Japanese larchReddish brown, scaling into shaggy ridges Large-leaved lime: barkLarge-leaved limeGrey, criss-cross ridges, clean to the ground Lombardy poplar: barkAndrew Skotnicki, CC BY 4.0Lombardy poplarGreyish brown and craggy, with burrs Norway maple: barkKatja Schulz, CC BY 4.0Norway maplePale grey, small close criss-crossing ridges Red oak: barkRed oakSilvery grey and smooth, some later ridged Sessile oak: barkSessile oakGreyish brown, with deep cracks up and down Walnut: barkWalnutSilvery grey, in shallow rounded ridges Weeping willow: barkMichelle Norcéide, CC BY 4.0Weeping willowPale greyish brown, deep criss-cross ridges Western hemlock: barkhumon, CC BY 4.0Western hemlockDark brown, furrowed into rugged scaly ridges Western red cedar: barkWestern red cedarSoft reddish brown bark in long stringy ridges White willow: barkWhite willowDark grey, deep ridges crossing one another Wych elm: barkSinclair Laing, CC BY 4.0Wych elmSmooth grey for 20 years, then shaggy ridges

Scaly plates

Broken into plates or scales.

Sycamore: barkfriendsofdrpep, CC BY 4.0SycamoreSmooth pinkish grey, then small pale plates Horse chestnut: barkHorse chestnutSmooth when young, coarse plates when old Holm oak: barketrusko25, CC BY 4.0Holm oakBlackish, closely cracked into small squares Norway spruce: barkdawn2022, CC BY 4.0Norway spruceCoppery and shredding, later purplish grey plates Grand fir: barkHarry Podschwit, CC BY 4.0Grand firGrey with resin blisters, cracking into rectangles Apple: barklisemari, CC BY 4.0AppleShallow scales in greys, browns and purples Atlas cedar: barkAtlas cedarGrey, neat close plates between deep cracks Crab apple: barkMatthew Flood, CC BY 4.0Crab applePurplish brown, in close scaly ridges Indian bean tree: barkIndian bean treeShallow scaly squares, pinkish orange Lawson cypress: barkJeff Jones, CC BY 4.0Lawson cypressReddish purple, cracking into long upright plates
In the app

Not sure? Ask the app

  • Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely names the tree
  • No signal? The guided keyOne simple question at a time, about what you can see
  • Every part, through the yearSo you can name it in winter as surely as in June
  • A short round each dayUntil you know them on sight
App StoreGoogle Play

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Photographs: Jan Sheppard (CC BY 4.0), lisemari (CC BY 4.0), jamie-aa (CC BY 4.0), ametsak (CC0), alexey_yabs (CC0), Zeke Marshall (CC BY 4.0), Michael and Antoni Hinczewski (CC BY 4.0), Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), Eric Tittley (CC BY 4.0), Victor Heng (CC BY 4.0), naturalist charlie (CC BY 4.0), Matthew Flood (CC BY 4.0), Barry Walter (CC BY 4.0), bobwardell (CC0), Glossysun (Sunny Pearce) (CC BY 4.0), Jon Sullivan (CC BY 4.0), johnt77 (CC0), Wendy Herniman (CC BY 4.0), Cassian (CC BY 4.0), Harry Podschwit (CC BY 4.0), Nick Butcher (CC BY 4.0), Kieran Roy Powell (CC BY 4.0), etrusko25 (CC BY 4.0), Ewan Shilland (CC BY 4.0), Marco Mussita (CC BY 4.0), peter_reynolds (CC0), Jeff Jones (CC BY 4.0), Andrew Skotnicki (CC BY 4.0), benjamis (CC0), Katja Schulz (CC BY 4.0), dawn2022 (CC BY 4.0), anguspritchard (CC BY 4.0), sim_elliott (CC0), friendsofdrpep (CC BY 4.0), tomerler (CC0), duzzilives (CC0), Michelle Norcéide (CC BY 4.0), humon (CC BY 4.0), haida_gwaii (CC0), Logan (CC BY 4.0), Sinclair Laing (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.