with …
leaf shape=♆☹ symmetric or leaf shape= 🖐 asymmetric :
blunt tip (as if cut off)🇪🇺 ◼︎ European black alder Alnus glutinosa
bark=white w/dark blotches; leaf shape=⛛ triangular with long tapered tip◼︎ gray birch Betula populifolia bark=white over orange; leaf shape=⬮ oval; buds shiny and not sticky📄︎ paper birch or ◼︎ American white birch Betula papyrifera bark=white; leaf shape=⬮ oval; buds sticky with resin🇪🇺 ◼︎ European white birch Betula pendula
teeth or notches=round; leaf edge=flat◼︎ white alder Alnus rhombifolia teeth or notches=round; leaf edge=rolled under◼︎ red alder Alnus rubra
tree has ⍋ thorns[?]◼︎ black hawthorn Crataegus douglasii
outermost leaves undersurface=glossy and stickySitka alder Alnus viridis subsp. sinuata
outermost leaves undersurface=dull and not stickyspeckled alder / 🗻︎ mountain alder Alnus incana
bark=gray or dark-blue; leaf veins=branched, base=♤ heart-shapedAmerican hophornbeam or 🛠 ironwood Ostrya virginiana bark=gray or dark-blue; leaf veins=unbranched, base=⋃ rounded (U-shaped)American hornbeam or 💪︎ musclewood Carpinus caroliniana
bark=yellow to red-brown, ragged, shaggy; leaf base=∨ angular (V-shaped)♒︎ river birch Betula nigra
bark=bronze or silver, peeling in thin curly flakes; leaf base=slightly-♤-heart-shaped◼︎ yellow birch Betula alleghaniensis bark=dark-brown not-peeling; leaf base=slightly-♤-heart-shapedcherry or sweet birch Betula lenta
usually has multiple trunks; some leaves symmetric, some not; some leaves have pointed tips, some rounded; edible nuts summer-autumnAmerican hazelnut Corylus americana
very lopsidedAmerican elm Ulmus americana undersurface and uppersurface very rough; inner bark=slipperyslippery elm or ◼︎ red elm Ulmus rubra slightly lop-sided; some twigs have 1–4 ✦ corky wingsrock or cork elm Ulmus thomasii
plant terminology
🏠︎ 🌳︎ broadleaves, ╟ alternate, 🍂︎ simple non-lobed ▲▲ toothed