Oval and dull green, with finely toothed edges and a thin coat of soft hairs underneath that carries on down the stalk.
Introduced, naturalised · Up to 15 m
Apple
Malus domestica · Rosaceae
Apple grows into a low, wide tree with oval, finely toothed leaves that are fuzzy underneath. In spring, clusters of deep pink buds open into white blossom.
Often mistaken for pear. How to tell them apart →Know it byLeavesOval and dull green, with finely toothed edges.
BlossomOpens from deep pink buds, in clusters, each 3 to 4 cm across.
ApplesGreen to red, at least 4 cm across, hollowed at the stalk.
LeavesOval and dull green, with finely toothed edges.BlossomOpens from deep pink buds, in clusters, each 3 to 4 cm across.ApplesGreen to red, at least 4 cm across, hollowed at the stalk.Then check · TwigsFuzzy grey buds on stout grey shoots, with many short fruiting spurs along the older branches.
How to identify an apple
Deep pink buds open in spring into clusters of white flowers with a soft pink flush, each 3 to 4 cm across.
Green to red, at least 4 cm across, hollowed at the stalk, with a small brown star of dried flower parts at the other end.
Learn the apple in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely
Every part, in photographs
Alex Press, CC BY 4.0
lisemari, CC BY 4.0
Owen and Carol Fawcett., CC BY 4.0When to look
JFMAMJJASOND
In leaf
Flowers
Apples
In leaf: April to November · Flowers: April to May · Apples: June to November
Every tree on the calendar · How to identify trees in winter
Where you’ll find it
Mostly planted, in gardens and orchards. Wild ones turn up in hedges, scrub and copses, by roads and railways and on rough ground, usually one tree on its own.
What it’s mistaken for
Apple or pear?Pear is another orchard tree, thick with fruiting spurs like apple, and white with blossom in spring.Flower colour, and when→
Apple or hawthorn?Wild apples often grow in hawthorn hedges.Outline→
- Crab appleCrab apple is Britain's own wild apple, and the two cross so freely that in-between trees turn up everywhere. Leaf. Apple: a thin coat of soft hairs, all season. Crab apple: bare of hairs once grown, and glossy.
- Wild cherryBoth carry white blossom in spring, and wild cherry is planted everywhere. Bark. Apple: greyish brown scales over a bumpy trunk. Wild cherry: purplish grey, peeling in level papery strips.
In the app
There’s more of the apple in Treely
- Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
- Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
- A short round each dayUntil you know the apple on sight, from any side
- Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
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: Owen and Carol Fawcett. (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), stevencross3 (CC0), Alex Press (CC BY 4.0), lisemari (CC BY 4.0), chrisdt (CC BY 4.0), Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.