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Common ash is one of Britain’s tallest and most graceful native trees. Its pinnate leaves consist of opposite pairs of leaflets with a single terminal leaflet at the end. In winter it is easily recognised by its distinctive velvety-black buds, the terminal bud often shaped rather like a bishop’s mitre.
Clusters of purple flowers appear before the leaves in spring, followed by bunches of winged seeds known as keys. The leaves are among the last to open in spring and often fall while still green in autumn.
Sadly, ash trees across Britain are now seriously threatened by ash dieback. This specimen was originally recorded as “Mountain ash”—an entirely different tree—and supplied with the cryptic field note “Mitral buds, terminal leaflets.” Even the trees website occasionally requires differential diagnosis.