Common ash: pinnate leaves and black buds

Common ash is a tall tree with grey, ridged bark and leaves made of several leaflets arranged in pairs along a central stalk. Its buds are black and sit in opposite pairs, which makes it one of the easier kinds to name from a bare twig in winter.

How to recognise it

• Bark: grey-brown on young trunks and smooth at first, then cracking into a network of ridges and fissures with age.
• Buds: black or very dark brown, plump, set in opposite pairs, with a larger black bud at the tip of each twig.
• Leaves: pinnate, made of usually seven to thirteen leaflets, each with toothed edges, and with a single leaflet at the tip.
• Leaflets: long, oval and pointed, paired along a central stalk that is grooved and grey.
• Flowers: small and purplish, in clusters, appearing before or with the leaves in spring.
• Seeds: winged samaras, often called keys, hanging in bunches and often lasting into winter.

How it differs from look-alikes

Common ash is most often mistaken for rowan, which also has pinnate leaves, and for elder, which can carry opposite buds and pinnate leaves. Walnut shares the compound leaf but is less often confused with ash.

Rowan

Pinnate leaves, but the buds are dark and slightly hairy and set alternately on the twig. The bark stays smooth and grey with pale marks.

Elder

Often a shrub or small tree with opposite buds and pinnate leaves. Its twigs have a soft, pale centre, and its bark is corky and furrowed.

Walnut

Large compound leaves, but the buds are set alternately, and the leaflets are much larger than those of ash.

Where and when it shows

Common ash grows on woodland edges, in hedgerows, on rough ground and beside water. It does well on soils with lime, and it is a pioneer on open ground, often seeding itself into gaps among older trees. The buds are the best winter feature. The leaves open late in spring, among the last trees to leaf, and they fall early in autumn, often while still green.