Native · Up to 38 m

English oak

Quercus robur · Fagaceae

Also called pedunculate oak or common oak

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.

Often mistaken for sessile oak. How to tell them apart →

Know it by

LeavesDeep, rounded lobes down both sides of the leaf.

AcornsAcorns in a shallow, scaly cup, on a long stalk.

BarkGrey, with short, deep, knobbly ridges on an older tree.

Then check · TwigsIn winter, silvery grey and smooth, with small light brown buds gathered in a cluster at the tip of every shoot.

How to identify an English oak

Leaves

Oak leaves have deep, rounded lobes down both sides, two small ear-like flaps at the base, and a stalk so short you can hardly see it.

Wendy Herniman, CC BY 4.0

Acorns

The acorns hang on long stalks, each one sitting in a shallow, scaly cup, and turn brown as they ripen.

Bark

On an older oak the bark is grey and cut into short, deep, knobbly ridges with close grooves between them. Young oaks are still smooth.

Learn the English oak in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely

Every part, in photographs

English oak leaves: rounded lobes, ear-like flaps, a very short stalk — LeavesRounded lobes, ear-like flaps, a very short stalk

English oak catkins: yellow male catkins as leaves unfold — CatkinsYellow male catkins as leaves unfold

English oak acorns: acorns on long stalks, often in pairs — AcornsAcorns on long stalks, often in pairs

English oak bark: grey, short deep knobbly ridges — BarkGrey, short deep knobbly ridges

English oak twigs and buds: cluster of light brown buds at each tip — Twigs and budsCluster of light brown buds at each tip

ShapeBroad uneven dome on heavy twisting limbs

When to look

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In leaf

Catkins

Acorns

In leaf: March to November · Catkins: March to May · Acorns: June to October

Every tree on the calendar · How to identify trees in winter

Where you’ll find it

Woods, deer parks, hedgerows, parkland and scrub, on heavy, rich soils and clay. It is common across southern, central and eastern England, and less so in Scotland and northern England. It is scarce on thin chalky soils.

What it’s mistaken for

English oak or sessile oak?Both are native oaks with much the same bark and twigs.Acorn stalk

English oak or common beech?Both are large grey-barked woodland trees.Older trunk

English oak or red oak?A big oak of the same parks, with lobed leaves and acorns.Ends of the lobes

Turkey oakBoth are big oaks with lobed leaves. Fruit. English oak: shallow cup of flat overlapping scales. Turkey oak: deep cup thick with soft mossy bristles.

More oaks, beeches and sweet chestnut

Common beechFagus sylvatica

Copper beechFagus sylvatica f. purpurea

Holm oakQuercus ilex

Red oakQuercus rubra

Sessile oakQuercus petraea

Sweet chestnutCastanea sativa

Turkey oakQuercus cerris

In the app

There’s more of the English oak 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 English oak on sight, from any side
Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree

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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: empressmoth (CC0), Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), Wendy Herniman (CC BY 4.0), chrisgannaway (CC0), cjoynson (CC0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), Jarro Nevsbaru (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.