oak

• Has acorns and distinctively-shaped leaves
   
• Male flowers in drooping yellow catkins
   
• Female flowers in inconspicuous stalked spikes have reddish colour
   

When to look for

• Flowers and leaves in April/May
   
• Leaves drop in November
   
• Ripe fruit from September to October
   

pedunculate oak

quercus robur

•  This is the classic English or common oak
   
• The leaves have almost no stalks but the acorns do

Mostly found in mixed woodland, but huge, isolated specimens are also seen in fields, hedgerows and parks. The dominant oak in the lowlands.
 

sessile oak

quercus petraea

• Opposite to pedunculate oak
   
• Acorns don’t have stalks
   
• Leaves do have stalks

It likes lighter, well-drained soils and is the dominant oak in the uplands most common in the north and west. It doesn’t tolerate flooding, unlike the pedunculate oak.