Trees with peeling bark

Bark that comes away in strips, flakes or papery layers, often with a different colour showing underneath.

What to look for

  • 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
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
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Photographs: sim_elliott (CC0), bobwardell (CC0), Jon Sullivan (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.