Swamp rose

Pink and yellow flowers, flexible thorns, red step, wings at bottom

Red ocier dogwood

Pronounced veins, short-medium petiol, red bumpy bark, white piff, white berries

Silky dogwood

Pronounced veins, short-medium petiol, striations in bark, red/greenish, brown piff, blue berries

Grey stemmed dogwood

Pronounced veins, short-medium petiol, dull grey bark, tan piff, white berries

Riverbank grape

Red stem, woody vines, purple grapes

Basswood

Huge toothed leaves, round petiol, droop fruit

White pine

Bundles of 5 needles, soft and flexible, grey to white bark, whorled branches of 6

Russian olive

Silver leaves, bronze fruit, dark brown branches, alternating leaves, yellow flowers, droop fruit, thorns

Staghorn sumac

Red fuzzy berries, 15-19 leaflets on one leaf, toothed, old stems become bumpy and lose pubescent

Honeysuckle spp.

Hollow stem, dark brown piff, stringy peely bark, folded leaves, very short petiol, dull pubescent leaves, berries grow at leaves

Multiflora rose

White flowers, eyelashes near ends, toothed leaves, high growth and robust, blossoms in clusters

Sugar maple

Smooth grey bark when young, becomes bumpy and dark grey, shallow sinuses, widest of the maple leaves

Black cherry

Dark bark, red wood, very small toothing, red fuzzy with brown hairs up middle of leaf

Ironwood

Very dense stem, doesn't get very big, even linear lines in flaky bark, very thin branches, doubly toothed, thin and papery leaf, short petiol

Shagwood hickory

Very peely bark, 4 segmented hickory seeds, young tree is smoother

Northern red oak

Smooth cap acorns, pointed lobes

American beech

Smooth gray bark its whole life, widespaced toothing, thin and papery, short petiol, thin spindly branches, 4 lobed fruit containing 2 nuts

Swamp white oak

Rounded lobes, shaggy cap acorn, thick knobby bark, wider past midpoint, dull bark

Red maple

Very small lobes near bottom, can be hybrid with silver maple most often

Poison ivy

Three leaves but not equidistant, varied toothing and color, waxy yellow berries

Prickly ash

Thorns on underside of leaves, fruit grows at root of stems, leaves have a citrus smell crushed up, thorns from tip to bottom

Northern white cedar

Peely and scaly bark, fruit grows little pinecones, smells like Christmas

Silver maple

Deep sinus, light back, narrow stems toward tips, grey flaky bark, common floodplain tree, helicopter seed (samara fruit)

Ash spp.

Thick stems, petiol rounded near bottom and grooved near tip, diamond fissures in bark, toothed, more boring samara

Buckthorn spp.

Thorns on branches, round leaves, black berries, holes in bark, grey to shiny silver bark

Aspen spp.

Cotton seeds, flat petiol, alternate twigs that thin out, grows fell in moisture, scalloped leaves, smooth grey bark (cottonwood is more oak-like)

Willow spp.

Very flexible branches, grows in moisture, dull grey to orange-ish branches, long thin leaves, can vary in size depending on variant

Joe pye weed

Whorled, big toothing, purple spots at nodes, dull pink flowers

Marsh milkweed

pairs of opposite leaves, glaborous, round leaves, bright pink flower, long and narrow seed pods formed on top

Boneset

Pubescent all over, white flowers like joe pye weed, perfoliate

Tamarack

Little barrels on branches, "deciduous conifer", super soft, turns yellow gold in fall

Sensitive fern

Very soft tissue, one contiguous leaf, use spores

Water plantain

Big foldy leaf, stalk has tiny 3 petal white flowers

Water hemlock

Waxy stalks, white flower clusters at top

Reed canary grass

Long leaves, hollow stem, white blossoms

Horsetail

Lots of thin leaves, seed pods top a thick stalk

Musclewood

Ridged and bumpy bark, doubly toothed, waxy, zigzag growing twings, pronounced veins, hop flowers

Jewelweed

Translucent stems, orange flower, sensitive, clumps of leaves, exploding seeds

Canada thistle

Purple flower clusters at top, slightly flexible thorns

Blue vervain

Purple flowers, notably toothed, pubescent, opposite, red fuzzy stem, shorter petiol than nettles

Common ragwood

Pubescent stem, intricate compound leaf, small greenish yellow flowers

Burdock

Fuzzy, looks like rhubarb

Stinging nettle

Beveled leaves, long petiol

Speckled alder

Speckled bark, irregular toothing, rough on back, little pinecone-like fruits (males are longer), flexible branches

Bulrush spp.

Long waxy leaves, flowery top

Red pine

Bundles of 2 needles, red under flaky bark, more rounded pinecones

Sneezeweed

Yellow "sneezed" flowers on top, long glaborous leaves, ridges on stem

Queen Anne's Lace

Fully fuzzy, sophisticated leaves, white flowers, smells like carrot when crushed

Bromegrass

Spaced out long seed pods, has W on leaves

Phragmities spp.

Thick stem, giant long leaves

Sweet clover

Yellow or white flowers, smells sweet, clover-like leaves

Cutleaf teasel

Perfoliate leaf, thorns on spine, cup collects water

Purple loosestrife

Square woody stem, clasping leaves, purple spiky flowers

Garlic mustard

Scalloped leaves, long legume seed pods, smells like garlic when crushed