Common ashMalc_l, CC BY 4.0
Common ash
ElderMichel Langeveld, CC BY 4.0
Elder
Lookalikes

Common ash or elder?

Both have feathered leaves in facing pairs.

The quickest check

The quickest check is the leaflets on one leaf. Common ash: usually 9 to 13. Elder: five or seven, each pointed and sharply toothed. No leaves on the tree? Check the bark texture.

At a glance

Look atCommon ashElder
Leaflets on one leafUsually 9 to 13Five or seven, each pointed and sharply toothed
Bark textureShallow pale grey ridges, hard under a thumbCorky ridges that give, soft and spongy
Winter budSooty black squat cones on flat basesPurplish, with loose spiky scales like small pineapples

Three ways to tell them apart

Leaflets on one leafLeaves
Common ash: leaflets on one leafMatthew Flood, CC BY 4.0
Common ashUsually 9 to 13
Elder: leaflets on one leafKieran Roy Powell, CC BY 4.0
ElderFive or seven, each pointed and sharply toothed
Bark textureBark
Common ash: bark textureJan Sheppard, CC BY 4.0
Common ashShallow pale grey ridges, hard under a thumb
Elder: bark textureGlossysun (Sunny Pearce), CC BY 4.0
ElderCorky ridges that give, soft and spongy
Winter budTwigs and buds
Common ash: winter bud
Common ashSooty black squat cones on flat bases
Elder: winter bud
ElderPurplish, with loose spiky scales like small pineapples
Think you can tell them apart now? Try the tree quiz: real photographs, and what gives each tree away.Take the quiz

The two trees

Common ash

Fraxinus excelsior

Ash has an open, airy crown on slender, curving limbs. Its leaves usually have 9 to 13 leaflets, and sooty black buds sit in pairs on its grey shoots.

How to identify common ash →

Elder

Sambucus nigra

Elder is a bushy shrub or small tree with many stems, common in hedges all over Britain. In June it carries flat cream plates of flowers. Its leaves smell unpleasant when bruised.

How to identify elder →

Their other lookalikes

Common ashTree of heavenCommon ash or tree of heaven?Quickest check: the edge of a leafletCommon ashEnglish oakCommon ash or English oak?Quickest check: the older trunkCommon ashCommon beechCommon ash or common beech?Quickest check: the older trunkCommon ashFalse acaciaCommon ash or false acacia?Quickest check: the edge of a leafletCommon ashHoney locustCommon ash or honey locust?Quickest check: the leafletsCommon ashSycamoreCommon ash or sycamore?Quickest check: the whole leafElderTree of heavenElder or tree of heaven?Quickest check: the whole plantElderJapanese mapleElder or Japanese maple?Quickest check: the leaflets
In the app

See them side by side in Treely

  • Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
  • Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
  • A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
  • The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them
App StoreGoogle Play

Free to download.

Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: Malc_l (CC BY 4.0), Michel Langeveld (CC BY 4.0), Matthew Flood (CC BY 4.0), Kieran Roy Powell (CC BY 4.0), Jan Sheppard (CC BY 4.0), Glossysun (Sunny Pearce) (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.