Common ashMalc_l, CC BY 4.0
Common ash
English oak
English oak
Lookalikes

Common ash or English oak?

Both have grey bark, and from a distance or in winter they can look alike.

The quickest check

The quickest check is the older trunk. Common ash: pale grey, shallow ridges in an even net. English oak: grey, in short, deep, knobbly ridges.

At a glance

Look atCommon ashEnglish oak
Older trunkPale grey, shallow ridges in an even netGrey, in short, deep, knobbly ridges
Buds on a winter shootSooty black, set in facing pairsLight brown, clustered at the shoot tip

Two ways to tell them apart

Older trunkBark
Common ash: older trunkJan Sheppard, CC BY 4.0
Common ashPale grey, shallow ridges in an even net
English oak: older trunk
English oakGrey, in short, deep, knobbly ridges
Buds on a winter shootTwigs and buds
Common ash: buds on a winter shoot
Common ashSooty black, set in facing pairs
English oak: buds on a winter shoot
English oakLight brown, clustered at the shoot tip
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 →

English oak

Quercus robur

English oak is a broad, spreading tree with heavy, twisting branches. Its leaves have deep rounded lobes and a very short stalk. The acorns hang on long stalks, often in pairs.

How to identify English oak →

Their other lookalikes

Common ashElderCommon ash or elder?Quickest check: the leaflets on one leafCommon ashTree of heavenCommon ash or tree of heaven?Quickest check: the edge of a leafletCommon 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 leafEnglish oakCommon beechEnglish oak or common beech?Quickest check: the older trunkEnglish oakSessile oakEnglish oak or sessile oak?Quickest check: the acorn stalkEnglish oakRed oakEnglish oak or red oak?Quickest check: the ends of the lobesEnglish oakHolm oakEnglish oak or holm oak?Quickest check: the outline of a leaf
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
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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), empressmoth (CC0), Jan Sheppard (CC BY 4.0), Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.