Common ashMalc_l, CC BY 4.0
Common ash
Sycamore
Sycamore
Lookalikes

Common ash or sycamore?

Big trees of the same woods, both with buds and leaves in facing pairs and winged seeds in bunches.

The quickest check

The quickest check is the whole leaf. Common ash: 9 to 13 leaflets along one stalk. Sycamore: one blade with five pointed lobes. No leaves on the tree? Check the colour of a winter bud.

At a glance

Look atCommon ashSycamore
Whole leaf9 to 13 leaflets along one stalkOne blade with five pointed lobes
Colour of a winter budSooty black, shaped like a squat coneBig and green, sometimes tipped red
KeyOne seed on a single flat wingTwo joined, wings at a right angle or narrower

Three ways to tell them apart

Whole leafLeaves
Common ash: whole leaf
Common ash9 to 13 leaflets along one stalk
Sycamore: whole leafKieran Roy Powell, CC BY 4.0
SycamoreOne blade with five pointed lobes
Colour of a winter budTwigs and buds
Common ash: colour of a winter budDaniel Seth Jackson, CC BY 4.0
Common ashSooty black, shaped like a squat cone
Sycamore: colour of a winter budJose Gutierrez Higa, CC BY 4.0
SycamoreBig and green, sometimes tipped red
KeyKeys
Common ash: key
Common ashOne seed on a single flat wing
Sycamore: keyYves Bas, CC BY 4.0
SycamoreTwo joined, wings at a right angle or narrower
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 →

Sycamore

Acer pseudoplatanus

Sycamore grows into a huge, heavy dome. Its large leaves have five lobes edged with coarse, blunt teeth, and its paired keys hang with their wings set at a right angle or narrower.

How to identify sycamore →

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 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 leafletsSycamoreField mapleSycamore or field maple?Quickest check: the lobes and their teethSycamoreHorse chestnutSycamore or horse chestnut?Quickest check: the parts of one leafSycamoreJapanese mapleSycamore or Japanese maple?Quickest check: the leaf edgeSycamoreLondon planeSycamore or London plane?Quickest check: how the leaves sitSycamoreNorway mapleSycamore or Norway maple?Quickest check: the leaf edge
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), pete_gateley (CC0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), Kieran Roy Powell (CC BY 4.0), Daniel Seth Jackson (CC BY 4.0), Jose Gutierrez Higa (CC BY 4.0), bobwardell (CC0), Yves Bas (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.