Identify Trees by Their Leaves: 12 Trees from the Belgian Forest
6 październik 2026 · Jonas Van Eylen
An autumn walk gets even better when you know which trees you are looking at. Is that a beech or a hornbeam? A pedunculate oak or a sessile oak? With a few simple features, you can learn to identify most trees in the Belgian forest by their leaves. Our Still Roots Hoodie, inspired by forest textures and earthy tones, is a perfect match for that quest. In this article you will find 12 trees, the look-alikes you often mix up, and why leaves change colour in autumn.
Why do leaves change colour in autumn?
In summer, leaves are green because of chlorophyll. As the days get shorter and colder, the tree breaks down that chlorophyll. This reveals pigments that were in the leaf all along:
- yellow from xanthophylls;
- orange from carotenoids.
Red works differently: the tree makes those pigments (anthocyanins) fresh in autumn, especially in sunny weather. Brown comes from tannins. That is why a beech turns such a different colour from a maple or a rowan.
Identifying 12 trees by their leaves
| Tree | How to recognise it | Autumn colour |
|---|---|---|
| Pedunculate oak | Lobed leaf with rounded lobes, almost no leaf stalk | Often yellow to brown |
| Sessile oak | Lobed leaf with a clear leaf stalk | Often yellow to brown |
| Beech | Oval leaf with a smooth edge and parallel veins | Copper, gold and deep orange |
| Hornbeam | Oval leaf with a clearly toothed edge | Yellowish to brown |
| Sycamore | Large, hand-shaped leaf with 5 lobes and a toothed edge | Yellow-brown to orange |
| Norway maple | Hand-shaped leaf with lobes ending in fine points | Often bright yellow |
| Horse chestnut | Palmate compound leaf with a whorl of leaflets | Yellow to brown, fairly late |
| Birch | Small, diamond-shaped leaf with a pointed tip | Yellow, one of the first |
| Ash | Pinnate leaf with 7 to 13 narrow, toothed leaflets | Often yellow, or falls while still green |
| Rowan | Pinnate leaf with 9 to 17 small, sharply toothed leaflets | Yellow-orange to red |
| Small-leaved lime | Heart-shaped leaf with small tufts in the vein angles underneath | Often yellow |
| European larch | Soft needles in tufts of 20 to 30 | Golden yellow, then the needles fall |
1. Pedunculate oak
The pedunculate oak is the best-known tree of our forests. The leaf has shallow, rounded lobes and sits almost stalkless on the twig. The acorns, on the other hand, hang on a long stalk. A pedunculate oak can live for 700 to 1,000 years, and more than 400 species of insects depend on it.
2. Sessile oak
The sessile oak looks a lot like the pedunculate oak. Its leaf does have a clear stalk, and the acorns sit almost stalkless on the twig. So it is exactly the other way round. A sessile oak often has a straighter trunk and copes better with drought. In Flanders it is less common.
3. Beech
The beech leaf is oval, 5 to 10 cm long, with a smooth edge and beautifully parallel veins. In autumn, the beech is perhaps the most colourful tree in the forest, with shades from copper to deep orange. Young beeches often hold on to their brown, dry leaves all winter. Almost nothing grows under a beech, because the canopy is so dense.
4. Hornbeam
Despite its name, the hornbeam is not a beech. It is more closely related to the birch. The leaf resembles that of the beech, but has a clearly toothed edge. The wood is so hard and resistant to splitting that it was once used for chopping blocks.
5. Sycamore
The sycamore leaf is large, usually with 5 lobes and a toothed edge. The leaves grow opposite each other on the twig. You surely know the winged fruits that spin down like little helicopters. Bees and hoverflies love them.
6. Norway maple
On the Norway maple, the lobes end in fine, pointed tips, with blunt notches in between. Break a leaf stalk and white milky sap comes out. The sycamore does not do that. Fun fact: Stradivarius used Norway maple wood for his violins.
Autumn leaves, pines and roots: if you love wandering in the forest, you will recognise yourself in our Pine Dusk Hoodie, with a row of pine trees against a fading sky.
7. Horse chestnut
The horse chestnut leaf is palmate compound: a whorl of large leaflets on one long stalk. Be careful: the horse chestnut is not related to the sweet chestnut, and its nuts are not edible. You can read about the difference in our article on chestnut picking in Belgium.
8. Birch
You first recognise the birch by its white trunk. The leaf is small (3 to 7 cm), diamond-shaped and pointed. In autumn, the birch is one of the first trees to turn yellow.
9. Ash
The ash has a pinnate leaf: 7 to 13 narrow, toothed leaflets, opposite each other on one stalk. In winter you recognise it by its black buds. Sadly, many ash trees are struggling because of ash dieback, a fungal disease that has been spreading since the 1990s.
10. Rowan
The rowan also has a pinnate leaf, but with smaller, sharply toothed leaflets. In autumn the leaves turn yellow-orange to red, and the tree hangs full of bright red berries. Birds love those berries, which is why the rowan is sometimes called the mountain ash or the bird's tree.
11. Small-leaved lime
The small-leaved lime leaf is heart-shaped and finely toothed. Turn it over: on the pale underside you will see small tufts in the angles of the veins. Lime leaves break down quickly and are rich in minerals. That makes them good for the forest floor.
12. European larch
The larch is the odd one out: a conifer that loses its needles in autumn. The soft needles grow in tufts of 20 to 30. In October and November the larch turns golden yellow, and then it drops everything.
A fox on a path full of fallen leaves: that is the picture on our Ember Trail Hoodie. This is how an autumn walk feels.
Trees you often mix up
- Pedunculate oak or sessile oak? Look at the stalks. The pedunculate oak has a stalkless leaf and acorns on a long stalk. The sessile oak has a stalked leaf and stalkless acorns.
- Beech or hornbeam? Feel the edge. The beech has a smooth edge, the hornbeam a toothed one.
- Sycamore or Norway maple? Look at the points. On the Norway maple, the lobes end in fine points and there is milky sap in the stalk.
- Horse chestnut or sweet chestnut? The horse chestnut has a palmate compound leaf, the sweet chestnut a long, single leaf with a toothed edge.
Handy apps for identifying trees
In doubt? Your smartphone can help:
- ObsIdentify recognises more than 22,000 species from a photo. In Belgium, the app works with Natuurpunt, and your observations end up on waarnemingen.be.
- Pl@ntNet gives you a list of possible species based on your photo, from most to least likely.
Take a photo of the leaf, but also of the trunk and any fruits. The more details, the better the result.
While you are searching, look down too. Under the trees in autumn there are mushrooms, like on our Forest Floor Sweatshirt. You can read more in mushroom hunting in Belgium.
Frequently asked questions
How do you identify a tree by its leaf?
Look at the shape (lobed, oval, hand-shaped or pinnate), the edge (smooth or toothed), the arrangement on the twig (opposite or alternate) and the leaf stalk. With those four features you can identify most trees in the Belgian forest.
What is the difference between a beech and a hornbeam?
The beech has an oval leaf with a smooth edge. The hornbeam has a similar leaf, but with a clearly toothed edge. The hornbeam is, by the way, more closely related to the birch than to the beech.
Which conifer loses its needles in autumn?
The European larch. Its needles turn golden yellow in autumn and then fall. In spring it grows new, soft needles.
Carry the forest with you
Once you know the trees, every walk becomes a voyage of discovery. Want to carry a piece of the forest yourself? Discover the Lunar Horizon Hoodie, with a mountain landscape framed by botanical details, or browse the whole Forest collection. Looking for the best places to see trees? Read the best autumn forests in Belgium. Shipping is free across the EU from €45 (otherwise €4.99).