Leaf: 3-5 saw-tooth lobes with pointed tips.
Bark: Smooth, light gray when young. Dark gray and rough with shaggy ridges when old.

photo: MnDNR

Leaf: 5-9 finger-like lobes that can be notched deeply or shallow.
Bark: Pale gray with scaly ridges and shallow fissures.
Acorn: light brown and enclosed in a bowl-shaped cap.

photo: MnDNR

Leaf: Heart-shaped with jagged teeth. Bees love to make honey from basswood flowers.
Bark: Smooth grayish red when young. Grayish brown with shallow, narrow ridges.
Fruit: Small nutlet under leafy bract.

photos: MnDNR; University of NE-Lincoln

Blooms: May - August
Found: In part shade to sun in wet meadows.
Petals: Typical iris shape, 3 to 4 inches across, blue to blue-violet, sometimes red-purple and rarely pale blue.

photo: Jennifer Quam / P&TC photo contest

Blooms: August - October
Found: In fields and wood edges.
Petals: Dainty purple swirl around yellow disk.
Fun Fact: Important late-blooming food source for bees and butterflies.

Blooms: May - July
Found: On cliffs and forest edges.
Petals: Red/pink with club-like petals.
Fun Fact: Hummingbirds drink nectar from this flower.

photo: Jelieta Walinski/P&TC photo contest

Often invisible until the sun hits it just right. Spiders create these fantastic contraptions to catch prey. The silk is made in glands on the spider's abdomen. Many spiders will eat their own web each day and rebuild a new one the next day.

photo: Aaron Kostko/P&TC Photo Contest

Found: Lift up a large rock or log on the forest floor, and you may see this bug scuttle away.
Fun Fact: They can roll up into a ball shape.
Key Role: They eat decaying plants, which helps to enrich the soil.

photo: Twosistersinthewild / Wikimedia CC

Appearance: 140 species in MN come in a rainbow of colors.
Dragonfly: Bigger and keep wings spread out when resting.
Damselfly: Smaller and close their wings when resting.
Fun Fact: They can fly upside down, backward, and turn 360° on a dime.

photos: John Wright / Flickr CC; Jim Johnson / iNaturalist CC; Wayne Fidler / iNaturalist CC

Appearance: Black and white with red eye.
Found: Swimming in lakes close to shore.
Listen for: Wailing tremolo call and short hoots.

photo: Will Stenberg/P&TC Photo Contest

Male: Bold red with crest on head.
Female/Immature Male: Brownish-red.
Found: In open woodlands and common visitor to bird-feeders.
Listen for: Loud, sweet whistle songs.

photo: Jack Bulmer /Pixabay

Appearance: All white with black bill. Males and females look alike.
Found: In lakes and rivers.
Nearly wiped out due to overhunting a century ago, but MnDNR reintroduced swans in the 1980s and now they are thriving here.

photo: Jason / P&TC photo contest

Appearance: Tiny fungi (less than 1/2 inch) that really do look like tiny bird's nests with eggs.
Found: In damp areas (after a rain) on sticks, wood chips, or humus. They do not grow on logs or bare ground.
CAUTION: Never eat any mushroom unless knowledgeable.

photo: Jo Zimny / Flickr CC

Appearance: Sorta like a turkey's tail growing out of a tree. This mushroom has wavy, leathery brown, white, gray, or reddish stripes.

Found: May-Sept. growing on logs or dead trees, especially on oaks.

CAUTION: Never eat any mushroom unless knowledgeable.

photo: Matt Welter / Wikimedia CC & Ryan Hodnett / Wikimedia CC

There are about 130 species of fishes found naturally in Minnesota. The most common ones to swim near shore and under docks are sunfish (photo). Seeing any fish will earn you points for this item.

photo: Joe Mabel, CC via Wikimedia

Color: Red-orange bottom shell (appears painted on) and black-olive upper shell. Yellow stripes on neck.
Found: On logs in lakes.

These rather adorable reptiles are docile and have no teeth.

photo: Steven Katovich / Bugwood.org CC

photo: Courtesy of Friends of Bertram

photo: Courtesy of Friends of Bertram

photo: Courtesy of Friends of Bertram