Information: Mein Baum

Actively cut tree

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1), Martina Gehret (2)

Other reason

Lack of tree planting

e.g. empty tree discs, entire streets, squares without trees

Photos: Christopher Busch (1), Thomas Stephan (2)

Tilia spp.

• Height: up to 30 m
• Trunk: gray to black-brown bark, longitudinally fissured
• Leaves: heart-shaped, 3-15 cm long, angled, serrated edges (small spikes)
• Flowers: in June/July, strongly scented, insect-friendly
• Fruits/seeds: small, spherical nut fruits (approx. 5 mm) with 1 wing, stemmed
• Other: common urban tree

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (3)

Tilia platyphyllos

• Height: up to 30 m
• Trunk: gray to black-brown bark, longitudinally fissured
• Leaves: heart-shaped, 7-15 cm long, angled, serrated edges, upper side loosely hairy, with small tufts of white hair in leaf vein axils
• Buds: ovoid
• Flower: in June/July, strongly scented, insect-friendly
• Fruits/seeds: small, spherical nut fruits (approx. 5 mm) with 1 wing, stemmed
• Other: common urban tree

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2)

Quercus spp.

• Height: up to 30 m
• Trunk: gray-brown bark, longitudinally fissured, ribbed
• Leaves: clearly lobed, 6-17 cm long 
• Buds: Light brown buds clustered at the end of the branch
• Fruit/seed: ovoid with a fruit cup

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (2,3)

Quercus petraea

• Height: up to 30 m
• Trunk: only branched at the top, grey-brown bark, longitudinally fissured, deeply furrowed
• Leaves: clearly lobed, 6-17 cm long, with tufts of hair on the underside, with long petioles (2-5 cm), small ears at the base of the leaves
• Buds: light brown, clustered at the end of the branch
• Fruits/seeds: ovoid fruits with small fruit cups on short stalks, clustered in groups
• Other: very gnarled appearance with age

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2)

Quercus cerris

• Height: up to 30 m
• Trunk: dark grey, longitudinally fissured bark
• Leaves: elongated elliptical, deeply lobed in variegated shapes, shiny dark green
• Buds: surrounded by thread-like stipules (approx. 2 cm long)
• Flowers: yellow catkins in April, bee-friendly
• Fruits/seeds: ovoid fruits with spiky fruit cups, clustered in groups 

Photos: Dorit Zimmermann (1,2,3,4,5)

Robinia pseudoacacia

• Height: up to 25 m
• Trunk: deeply longitudinally fissured, gray to dark brown bark
• Leaves: pinnate, alternate leaves with smooth edges, 20-30 cm long, with stipules
• Flowers: striking white butterfly flowers hanging down in clusters, strongly scented, insect-friendly
• Fruits/seeds: 5-10 cm long pods, remain on tree for a long time
• Other: common urban tree, nitrogen-enriching 

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2,3)

Betula pendula

• Height: up to 20 m
• Trunk: strikingly white (betulin), smooth bark, cracking and darkening with age
• Leaves: diamond-shaped to triangular, 4-7 cm long, hairless
• Fruits/seeds: 2-3 cm long catkins
• Other: overhanging branches, covered with small cork warts 

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (3)

Carpinus betulus

• Height: up to 20 m
• Trunk: smooth bark, often deeply furrowed with age, twisted growth
• Leaves: ribbed surface, double serrated at the leaf edge (large and small serrations)
• Buds: fawn-brown with light-coloured edges on the individual bud sheds
• Fruits/seeds: conspicuous seed clusters
• Other: very tolerant to pruning, therefore also found as a hedge or topiary 

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1), Thomas Stephan (2), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (3)

Populus spp.

• Height: up to 30 m
• Stem: grey, dark bark
• Leaves: mostly heart-shaped or triangular with long petioles
• Flowers: drooping catkins
• Fruits/seeds: Capsules containing many small, hairy seeds (wind dispersal)
• Other: fast-growing deciduous tree that belongs to the willow family

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2,3), Martina Gehret (4)

Populus x canadensis

• Height: up to 30 m, fast-growing
• Trunk: grey bark
• Crown: forms widely spreading crowns
• Leaves: triangular to rhombic, 7-10 cm long, serrated margins, flattened, reddish petiole
• Flowers: long catkins in March/April before leaves emerge
• Other: hybrid of Populus nigra and Populus deltoides

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2,3)

Populus tremula

• Height: up to 20 m, exceptions up to 30 m
• Trunk: narrow, often slightly twisted, grey bark with horizontal stripes
• Crown: Loose, roundish, broadly spreading
• Leaves: round to heart-shaped, toothed edges, long laterally flattened petioles that cause the characteristic ‘trembling’ of the leaves in a light wind
• Flowers: reddish (male) or greenish (female) catkins in March/April before the leaves emerge
• Fruits/seeds: capsules containing many small, hairy seeds (wind dispersal) 

Photos: Wolfgang Schödel (1,2,3)

Ulmus spp.

• Height: up to 30 m
• Trunk: deeply furrowed bark
• Leaves: obovate to elliptical, with clear asymmetrical leaf base on stem, more or less hairy, serrated leaf margin, rustling
• Fruits/seeds: round to ovoid, resembling wafer-thin leaflets with a seed in the centre, in clusters
• Other: rare tree species, 3 species in Germany that are difficult to distinguish

Photos: Martina Gehret (1,2,3,4), Wolfgang Schödel (5,6)

Acer spp.

• Height: many types of maple trees, from shrubs to large trees
• Trunk: bark varied (smooth to longitudinally fissured to scaly)
• Leaves: usually 3-5 lobed, palmate, from 5-20 cm in size, opposed leaves
• Fruits/seeds: Fruits with fruit wings (‘nose pincher’) for wind dispersal
• Other: 3 native maple species and countless species globally

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (2)

Acer platanoides

• Height: up to 20 m
• Trunk: bark longitudinally fissured, dark brown to blackish
• Leaves: 5-lobed with distinct tips, 12-18 cm wide, with milky sap
• Buds: green buds
• Flowers: yellow-green, clustered flowers in April/May before leaves emerge
• Fruits/seeds: Fruits with right-angeled fruit wings (‘nose pincher’) for wind dispersal (approx. 3 cm) 

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2,3), Wolfgang Schödel (4)

White willow

• Height: up to 25 m
• Trunk: grey bark, deeply longitudinally fissured with broad ribs
• Leaves: 4-12 cm long, lanceolate, pointed, alternate
• Flowers: catkins
• Fruits/seeds: wind dispersal of white fluffed seeds in big clusters

Fotos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2,3)

Salix spp.

• Height: depending on the species, shrub-like to larger tree
• Trunk: fast-growing, often hollow inside
• Leaves: elliptical to lanceolate, pointed, alternate
• Flowers: catkin-shaped
• Other: 300 to 400 species worldwide, around 30 to 40 different willow species in Germany, usually with strong elasticity of the branches

Photos: Martina Gehret (1,2)

Prunus spp.

• Height: up to 20 m depending on species, exceptions up to 30 m
• Trunk: flat-cracked bark, partly shiny, lenticels form clearly horizontal structures
• Crown: often broadly spreaded
• Leaves: elongated ovate to elliptical, 7-12 cm long, pointed
• Flowers: beautiful white flowers in April/Mai, in 2 to 3-flowered umbels
• Fruits/seeds: cultivated cherry with aromatic, red to black-red drupes 

Photos: Heide Frobel (1,2), Janina Deutschmann (3,4), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (5,6)

Pyrus spp.

• Height: up to 15 m, exceptions up to 20 m
• Trunk: dark brown shedding bark
• Crown: narrow or broadly conical
• Leaves: ovate to elliptical, 5-9 cm long, serrated to smooth-edged
• Flowers: white to pink, approx. 3 cm wide, 3 to 9-flowered umbels, in April/May
• Fruits/seeds: edible fruit, mostly greenish to yellow
• Other: Around 1,500 to 5,000 varieties worldwide, of which only around 10 are commercially available 

Photos: Tobias Erras (1), Wolfgang Schödel (2,3)

Gleditsia triacanthos

• Height: up to 25 m
• Trunk: longitudinally fissured, detaching in elongated plates, with distinct tufted thorns
• Leaves: simple or doubly pinnate with 14-28 elliptically shaped small leafs
• Fruits/seeds: 12-40 cm long, leathery, strap-shaped, wavy-twisted legumes containing about 25 seeds
• Other: usually thorny on trunk and branches 

Photos: Dorit Zimmermann (1,2,3), Viola auf Pixabay (4), Annette Meyer auf Pixabay (5)

Styphnolobium japonicum

• Height: up to 15-20 m
• Trunk: longitudinally cracked bark
• Crown: round, heartshaped to oval, broadly spreading with age
• Leaves: oval, imparipinnate leaves
• Flowers: fragrant, white flowers in large, loose panicles, rich in nectar, insect-friendly
• Fruits/seeds: pearl-like pods (approx. 8 cm) with black-brown seeds
• Other: almost all parts of the plant (except flowers) are poisonous

Photos: Martina Gehret (1), Janina Deutschmann (2)

Ailanthus altissima

• Height: up to 25 m, fast-growing
• Trunk: often multi-stemmed, upright, smooth, grey-brown, slightly fissured bark
• Crown: broad, spreading
• Leaves: imparipinnate, petiolate leaves, 40-90 cm long, leaflets with marginal glands (nectaries)
• Flowers: green, inconspicuous, panicle-shaped flower, June to August, nectar-rich, insect-friendly
• Fruits/seeds: yellowish-red nut fruits, broadly winged (wind dispersal), often remain on tree for a long time

 Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (3,4)

Picea abies

• Height: medium to tall tree, up to 40 m
• Trunk: young trees reddish-brown, cracking scaly with grey tones when old, often greenish on weather side
• Leaves: pointed needles 4-edged with stomata on all sides or flat with stomata downwards, fused to the twig at the base
• Fruits/seeds: Elongated, cylindrical cones, initially protruding, later drooping, seeds with spoon-like wings

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (3)

Pinus spp.

• Height: depending on species up to 30 m, exceptions up to 50 m
• Trunk: rarely shrub-like, longitudinally fissured and scaly
• Crown: conical, later usually loosened
• Leaves: 2-5 needles per sheath on short shoots, very thin, pointed
• Fruits/seeds: ovoid or conical cones 

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2,3), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (4)

Pinus sylvestris

• Height: 20-30 m
• Trunk: bark initially fox-red, later dark brown, flat scaly bark
• Crown: initially conical, later usually umbrella-shaped
• Leaves: 2 needles per sheath, 3-7 cm long, 1.5-2 mm thick, usually twisted
• Fruits/seeds: ovoid to conical cones, 3-8 cm long, up to 3.5 cm thick

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2,3), Kerstin Ellersdorfer (4)

Cupressaceae

• Height: up to 30 m depending on species
• Trunk: fibrous, thin bark, clearly longitudinally fissured with age, peeling off in strips
• Crown: usually dense, conical to columnar
• Leaves: scale-like, usually small, very dense
• Fruits/seeds: small, spherical to ovoid cones, woody, initially compact, later gaping
• Other: Very tolerant to pruning, therefore also found as a hedge or topiary 

Photos: Janina Deutschmann (1,2,4), Martina Gehret (3,5)