Template:Decision S2/Test

Key to common UK street trees — Bob Press

The key allows quick but reliable identification of common urban street trees in the UK. Please make comments on the discussion page of this key (see tab above page) or send suggestions to Bob Press. (Geographic scope not specified) — Collaboration: open — Status: Text completed, illustrations incomplete, Species page incomplete (species links in red are not yet created). — Edited by: Bob Press, G. Hagedorn (formatting and minor adaptations)

1	Leaves scale-like and often overlapping
	Leaves broader, not scale-like or overlapping
2	Foliage with white markings beneath, the smallest twigs on a branch all spreading in one plane; fruiting cones 7-9 mm, each cone-scale with a small spine in the centre Lawson Cypress
	Foliage without white markings beneath, the smallest twigs on a branch spreading in all directions; fruiting cones 15-20 mm, each cone-scale with a large conical spine in the centre Leyland Cypress
3	Leaves opposite
	Leaves alternate
4	Leaves simple, though often deeply lobed Maples
	Leaves compound, divided into completely separate leaflets
5	Leaves green above, silvery white beneath Silver Maple
	Leaves of similar green on both sides
6	Leaf lobes with numerous, small teeth; flowers in pendent clusters; fruits with wings more or less forming a right angle (at 90º to each other) Sycamore
	Leaf lobes entire, or with few, large teeth; flowers in erect clusters; fruits with wings horizontal (at 180º to each other) or nearly so
7	Leaves up to 8 cm long, lobed more than half-way to the base, the lobes with rounded tips; flowers appearing with the leaves Field Maple
	Leaves > 8 cm long, lobed less than half-way to the base, the lobes with pointed tips; flowers appearing before the leaves
8	Leaf lobes toothed Norway Maple
	Leaf lobes entire Cappadocian Maple
9	Leaves palmately divided, the leaflets radiating from a central point
	Leaves pinnately divided, the leaflets in two rows
10	Flowers mostly white, with red and yellow blotches; fruits with numerous, sharp spines; winter buds very sticky Horse-chestnut
	Flowers red or bright pink; fruits with few, if any, blunt spines; winter buds not sticky Red Horse-chestnut
11	Fruits 1 per stalk
	Fruits paired on each stalk Ash-leaved Maple
12	Leaves with 7-13 leaflets; flowers appearing after the leaves, purplish, without sepals or petals; fruits 2.5-5 cm long Ash
	Leaves with 5-9 leaflets; flowers appearing after the leaves, white, with 4 narrow petals; fruits 1-5-2.5 long Manna Ash
13	Leaves compound, with at least one pair of separate leaflets
	Leaves simple, sometimes lobed but not divided into separate leaflets
14	Twigs spiny; flowers with 5 unequal petals, pea-like False Acacia
	Twigs not spiny; flowers with 5, equal petals, not pea-like
15	Leaves completely divided into 6 or more pairs of leaflets Rowans
	Lower part of leaf divided into 1-4 pairs of leaflets, upper part lobed but not completely divided
16	Ripe fruits entirely orange-red to vermillion-red (occasionally yellow), with yellow pulp Orange-/Vermillion-fruited Rowans
	Ripe fruits white to pink or crimson, with white pulp White-/Pink-/Crimson-fruited Rowans
17	Leaves with 1-2 pairs of leaflets, matt green above, grey-white woolly beneath; ripe fruit scarlet Swedish Service-tree
	Leaves with 1-4 pairs of leaflets, glossy green above, thinly white hairy beneath; ripe fruit brownish-red Thuringian Service-tree
18	Leaves evergreen, often spiny Evergreen Oak
	Leaves deciduous, never spiny
19	Twigs spiny (spines sometimes very few)
	Twigs not spiny
20	Leaves not lobed; spines on twigs 3-8 cm
	Leaves lobed to more than one-third of the way to the base; spines on twigs 1-2.5 cm
21	Leaves with a rounded or bluntly pointed tip, completely hairless beneath; flower and fruit stalks hairless Cockspur-thorn
	Leaves with an acute tip, hairy at least on veins beneath; flower and fruit stalks hairy
22	Leaves with whitish hairs scattered over the whole of the lower surface; flowers c. 2.5 cm across; ripe fruits orange-red Hybrid Cockspur-thorn
	Leaves with hairs on the veins of the lower surface only; flowers c. 1.5 cm across; ripe fruits red Broad-leaved Cockspur-thorn
23	Leaves usually with 5-7 lobes, the largest reaching more than two-thirds of the way to the midrib; flowers always white; styles and nutlets 1 Hawthorn
	Leaves usually with 3 lobes, the largest reaching less than two-thirds of the way to the midrib; flowers white, red or pink; styles and nutlets 2-3 Midland Hawthorn
24	Leaves lobed
	Leaves sometimes toothed but not lobed
25	Leaves palmately lobed London Plane
	Leaves pinnately lobed
26	Leaves lobed to less than one-third of way to midrib; underside with a thick felt of hairs Whitebeams
	Leaves lobed at least one-third of way to midrib; underside sometimes hairy but not thickly felted Oaks
27	Leaves whitish or silvery hairy beneath Whitebeam
	Leaves greyish to yellowish hairy beneath Swedish Whitebeam
28	Leaves with 7-9 pairs of blunt-tipped lobes, rough above, hairy beneath; acorn cup with spreading or reflexed scales Turkey Oak
	Leaves with 3-5 pairs of whisker-tipped lobes, smooth and hairless on both sides; acorn cup with short, close-pressed scales
29	Leaves barely longer than wide, lobed c. half-way to midrib, shiny on both surfaces Red Oak
	Leaves much longer than wide, lobed c. two-thirds of way to midrib, matt on both surfaces
30	Bark creamy white or silvery white
	Bark grey or brown
31	Bark silvery, developing black, diamond-shaped fissures with age; twigs and smaller branches weeping; leaf stalk hairless Silver Birch
	Bark creamy white, peeling in thin sheets; twigs and smaller branches erect or drooping at tips only; leaf stalk hairy White Himalayan Birch
32	Tree weeping; leaves > 10 times as long as wide Weeping Willow
	Tree not weeping; leaves < 10 x as long as wide
33	Leaves with wavy, entire margins Beech
	Leaves with flat, toothed margins
34	Petals yellowish or absent; fruit dry
	Petals white, pink or red; fruit fleshy
35	Fruits resembling small woody cones which persist on the tree all year
	Fruits not cone-like, falling from the tree in autumn
36	Leaf margins toothed; cones in clusters of 1-3 Italian Alder
	Leaf margins doubly-toothed (the teeth themselves toothed); cones in clusters of 3-8 Common Alder
37	Flowers and fruits in pendent catkins; petals absent; fruits each with a membranous wing Hornbeam
	Flowers and fruits in stalked clusters; petals present; entire fruit cluster attached to a single, membranous wing Limes
38	Leaves hairless beneath except for tufts of hairs in the angles of veins; fruits not or only slightly ribbed
	Leaves evenly hairy beneath; fruits strongly ribbed
39	Leaves with matt upper surface, the hairs in the vein angles beneath whitish; fruit rounded at both ends Common Lime
	Leaves with glossy upper surface; the hairs in the vein angles beneath reddish; fruit tapering at both ends Caucasian Lime
40	Leaves green on both surfaces Large-leaved Lime
	Leaves dark green above, silvery white beneath
41	Branches weeping Weeping Silver Lime
	Branches not weeping Silver Lime
42	Flowers with 3-5 styles; fruit with several seeds; bark without horizontal bands of pores Crabs
	Flowers with a single style; fruits with a single seed (stone); bark often with conspicuous horizontal bands of pores (lenticels) Cherries
43	600x200px Leaves strongly tinged with purple; flowers dark or ruby red; fruit purplish red Purple Crab
	Leaves green; flowers pink or white; fruits red or yellow
44	Leaves hairy beneath; flowers pale pink fading to white, usually with 4 styles; fruits yellow Japanese Crab
	Leaves hairless or hairy only on the veins beneath; flowers white, with 5 styles; fruits flushed with or entirely red
45	Fruits < 1 cm long, globose to ellipsoid Siberian Crab
	Fruits c. 3.5 cm long, conical Malus ‘John Downie’
46	Flowers and fruits arranged in spreading or drooping spikes of 10 or more Bird Cherry
	Flowers and fruits solitary or in clusters of 10 or less
47	Leaf margin with blunt and rounded teeth; flowers solitary, rarely in clusters of 2-3; fruit 2-3 cm Cherry-plum
	Leaf margin with sharply pointed teeth; flowers in clusters of 2-6; fruit < 1.5 cm
48	Leaf margin with teeth gradually narrowed into a long point tipped with a long, fine bristle Japanese Cherry
	Leaf margin with teeth rounded or narrowed into a point but not tipped with a long bristle
49	Leaf stalk hairy; flowers generally pink, the stalk 1 cm
	Leaf stalk hairless; flowers white, the stalk 2-5 cm Wild Cherry