Admiration for a magnificent tree goes hand in hand with the desire to call the species by name. An important indicator is the shape of its leaves. Size, shape, teeth and arrangement provide valuable information and simplify the well-founded determination of a tree species. This guide has compiled the properties of the tree leaves of 16 species in Germany.
Determine tree leaves from B to R.
Sycamore maple, forest maple (Acer pseudoplatanus)
The sycamore maple can be recognized by its 5-lobed, bluntly serrated leaves. On the top, the foliage is dark green. The color tends to be gray-green on the underside. The most striking difference to Norway maple is the rounded leaf tips. The front three leaf lobes are usually the same size. In contrast, the two lower lobes are smaller and not always fully developed.
- Arrangement: opposite
- Size: 14 to 16 cm long
- Autumn color: yellow-orange
Beech, European beech (Fagus sylvatica)
Beech tree leaves are silky hairy for some time after they have sprouted. In the course of summer, the leaf tops become bare and dark green. Overall, the egg-shaped leaves take on a leather-like consistency. On the underside of the blade, a light green color and loose to thick hair dominate. The long, wonderfully silky eyelash hairs that adorn the slightly serrated, sometimes wavy edge of the leaf are striking. At 1.5 cm, the petiole is comparatively short.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 5 to 10 cm long and 3 to 7 cm wide
- Autumn color: yellowish to red-brown
Ash, high ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
The ash tree with its picturesque foliage is a welcome guest in large gardens and parks. The distinctive shape of the leaflets makes it easy for even the untrained eye to identify the tree without any doubt. An ash leaf is unpaired pinnate with 9 to 15 single leaves. An egg-shaped to lanceolate leaflet is 4 to 10 cm long and 1.5 to 4 cm wide. Leaf margins are sharply serrated. Lateral leaflets stand on a slightly shorter petiole than terminal leaflets. In contrast to the fresh green top, the bottom comes in a lighter shade of green. The leaf spindle itself has a petiole up to 10 cm long.
- Arrangement: crosswise opposite
- Size: 25 to 40 cm long
- Autumn color: no
Sweet chestnut, sweet chestnut, chestnut (Castanea sativa)
At the end of April, the sweet chestnut sprouts slightly hairy leaves that quickly become bald. The two 1.5 cm short stipules at the base of the leaf also only act as a distinguishing feature for a short time and fall off within a few weeks. In the meantime, the widespread tree has completed its dense foliage, which consists of long, elliptical leaves with a short tip. Each leaf is serrated along the edge, with the teeth ending in a tiny, forward-pointing point. The upper side of the leaf is deep green and shiny. The underside of the leaf is lighter and streaked with 12 to 20 pairs of veins that stand out clearly.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 12 to 20 cm long, 3 to 6 cm wide
- Autumn color: dark yellow
Field maple, Maßholder (Acer campestre)
A field maple leaf is characterized by rounded or obtuse-angular leaf lobes. A leaf is divided into 5 lobes and stands on a stem up to 6 cm long. Matt dark green marks the upper side of the leaf, while the underside of the leaf shines in a lighter shade of green. It is characteristic of the popular maple species that dead tree leaves remain in sheltered locations until well into winter.
- Arrangement: opposite
- Size: 5 to 8 cm long, 8 to 10 cm wide
- Autumn color: bright yellow to orange
Silver birch, sand birch, white birch (Betula pendula)
You can recognize the most important pioneer tree in Germany by the long, pointed, triangular to diamond-shaped leaves that stand on 3 cm short stems. A double-sawn edge is noticeable. If you pick up a sheet of paper, you will notice how thin and bare on both sides it is. Shortly after budding, the leaves are often slightly sticky.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 4 to 7 cm long and 2 to 3 cm wide
- Autumn color: golden yellow
Hornbeam, hornbeam, hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
A hornbeam leaf is dark green, egg-shaped, and am
pointed upper end. As a rule, the base is pointed, rounded or truncated, rarely a little crooked. Primarily 10 to 15 parallel, pronounced leaf veins catch the eye, which make a leaf appear as if it were folded. The foliage is initially thinly hairy on the underside, later glabrous. The color on the top is dark green. When you turn a foliage leaf, a light green underside appears.- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 4 to 10 cm long, 2 to 4 cm wide
- Autumn color: yellowish
Horse chestnut, common horse chestnut, white horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
The horse chestnut gives the first clues as to its identity with its finger-shaped leaves. One leaf is dull green and bare on top. On the underside, a light green with felt-like veins characterizes the visual appearance. There are 5 to 7 individual, narrow pinnate leaves that gather to form a large horse chestnut leaf. A single leaflet can be up to 18 cm long and 10 cm wide. The petiole, where all the leaflets meet, becomes 10 to 15 cm long. Also characteristic are double-sawn leaf edges and a wedge-shaped slender leaf base.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 25 to 30 cm
- Autumn color: yellow to orange
Determine tree leaves from S to Z
Sal willow, kitten willow (Salix caprea)
The leaf of a Sal willow is twice as long as it is wide and stands on a 2 cm short stem. Significant features are sunken leaf veins and a serrated edge. Furthermore, the leaves do not shoot until after the catkins have bloomed. The elliptical leaf shape ends in a short, blunt, slightly twisted leaf tip. The green upper side of the young foliage is characterized by light hairs. The short hairs fall off as the leaves develop and reveal a dark green, shiny surface. On the underside, a sal willow leaf is blue-green and has permanent tomentose-white hairs. Small, semi-kidney-shaped stipules that sprout at the base of the leaves dispel any final doubts about the tree's purpose.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 5 to 7 cm long, 2.5 to 4 cm wide
- Autumn color: yellow-brown
Silver poplar, white poplar (Populus alba)
When the summer wind blows through the crown of a silver poplar, the foliage shimmers silvery-white. The reason for the picturesque spectacle is a combination of light green leaf tops and felt-white, woolly hairy undersides. Only when it shoots are the tops also hairy, later glabrous. The white poplar can be reliably identified on the basis of a cupped, 3 to 5-lobed leaf shape with notched edges on a 2 to 5 cm long stem. In outline, the tree leaves appear triangular-oval to rounded with a truncated base.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 5 to 10 cm long, 3 to 5 cm wide
- Autumn color: yellowish
Tip: With a more or less pronounced hairiness of their leaves, trees protect themselves against various dangers. The thicker the coat, the less water evaporates. The hairy protective layer on young leaves prevents damage from sunburn by refracting light. Last but not least, a woolly patina works so that crafty aphids and other pests attack the tree leaves.
Norway maple (Acer platanoides)
Norway maple owes its name to perfectly shaped leaves with round incisions and sharp teeth. The number of leaf lobes with entire margins varies. Inlets between the 5 to 7 lobes are always blunt. What is noticeable is a petiole up to 20 cm long with a spherical base. Most famous variety is
"Globosum", the spherical crown of which is set in scene with hand-shaped, 5-lobed leaves.- Arrangement: opposite
- Size: up to 20 cm long and wide
- Autumn color: in many intense colors
English oak, German oak (Quercus robur)
An irregularly curved leaf margin with small "ears" at the end of the stem is what characterizes the foliage of a common oak. The petiole itself is very short at 1 cm. Above the middle the leaf is wider than in the lower half. On the upper side a leaf is deep green and glossy in summer time and a little lighter on the underside. Run your finger over the underside of the leaf and feel the lightly hairy leaf veins.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 10 to 15 cm long
- Autumn color: yellow-brown
Summer lime tree (Tilia platyphyllos)
The widespread tree can be identified by means of its heart-shaped leaves with a strikingly long, slender tip. These are 10 to 15 cm long and wide. The leaf margin is slightly serrated. It is characterized by extremely fine hairs on the fresh green leaf tops at the time of budding. On the leaf nerves you can see and feel a fluffy, soft hair that condenses in the nerve axils into whitish tufts of hair.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 10 to 15 cm long and wide
- Autumn color: golden yellow
Winter linden, stone linden (Tilia cordata)
If you want to identify the tree of the year 2016 and differentiate it from the summer linden tree, take a look at the tufts of hair (domatia) on the underside of the leaves. On a winter lime tree, domatias are always brown in color and positioned in the corners of the main and side veins. Furthermore, the heart-shaped leaves are 5 to 7 cm smaller than those of their conspecifics. The tops of the leaves thrive in dark green, glabrous and elegantly shiny. On the underside, the foliage is bluish-green. The leaf margin is finely serrated.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 5 to 7 cm long and wide
- Autumn color: yellow
Walnut tree, real walnut, tree nut (Juglans regia)
Imposing leaflets are one of the outstanding attributes of a real walnut. Thanks to the elegant shape of the foliage, you can determine the widespread deciduous tree without its crunchy nuts. Each walnut leaf is pinnate unpaired with 5 to 9 leaflets. A single leaflet is dark green, 6 to 12 cm long and 3 to 6 cm wide and has entire margins. The terminal leaflet is always larger than the lateral leaflet. Apart from the underarm mustaches, the leaflets are hairless. When you rub the tree leaves between your fingers, an aromatic scent is emitted.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 30 to 40 cm
- Autumn color: yellowish-brown to yellow-orange
Quivering poplar, aspen (Populus tremula)
Circular leaf blades with an indicated tip are the trademark of a quivering poplar. When it shoots, the single-toothed leaf is conspicuously tomentose and bluish in color on the underside. A slightly flattened petiole extends 3 to 8 cm in length. Because of this property, even a slight breeze makes the leaves tremble, which is why the saying "tremble like aspen leaves" can be traced back to.
- Arrangement: alternate
- Size: 3 to 10 cm in diameter
- Autumn color: pale green to golden yellow
