Leaf: 7-9 rounded lobes with deep and shallow notches. Tips large and wavy.
Fruit: Acorn with fringe around cup. These feed many wildlife.
Tree Form: Relatively short trunk with heavy, sprawling branches

photos: 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

Leaves: 3 pointed lobes with 2 smaller points near the stem (symbol on Canada flag).
Bark: Smooth, light gray to brown becomes almost black with irregular plates or scales.
Fun Fact: Maple syrup is made from this tree by collecting sap in the spring.

photo: MnDNR

Blooms June - September
Found: In the sun, dry fields, and prairies.
Petals: Flat-topped clusters with up to 25 orange flowers.

photo: Eric Hunt / Wikimedia CC

Blooms: July - September
Found: In sunny spots along shores.
Petals:Pink to purple flowers.

Blooms: June - October
Found: Sunny fields, along roads or lakeshores.
Petals: Cheery yellow petals swirl around a black center.

photo: Luke Lawreszuk / Sprayedout.com

MN is home to a few native crayfish, plus an invasive one. They all look like baby lobsters that reach 2-5 inches long.
Found: In streams and rivers with rocky bottoms and logs to hide under.
Fun Fact: While humans have 46 chromosomes, crayfish have 200. This allows them to self-amputate limbs if caught and then re-grow them.

ALAN SCHMIERER, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

There are many types of caterpillars roaming around in Minnesota parks. They may be fuzzy, stripy, or plain, and each will transform into a moth or butterfly. The ones here are the Tussock Moth (top left), the Woolybear (bottom left), and the Monarch, which can be found on milkweed plants.

photo: Lisa Filter/P&TC; 1sock / FlickrCC; Maria L. Evans / Wikimedia CC

Color: Bright orange with black veins.
Found: Flying around wildflowers.
Fun Fact: They fly down to Mexico before winter begins.

photo: Peter Miller / Flickr CC

Appearance:  Blue with a reddish chest and white belly.
Found: Flying fast over prairies.
Fact: Once nearly eliminated from MN, now rebounded as people built nest boxes.

photo: pixabay.com

Appearance: These two woodpeckers are nearly identical with the Downy a little smaller at ~6" and Hairy ~9". The female doesn't have the red mark on head.

Found: In the forest.

Photo: Andrew McKinlay/FlickrCC

Males: Red eye and green crest.
Females: Brown with crest and white eye ring.
Found: In quiet backwaters or ponds.

photo: Rick Leche - Photography

Appearance: Orange with yellow edge, shelf-like layers.
Found: On decaying stumps and logs or an injured tree in late summer or fall.
CAUTION: Never eat any mushroom unless knowledgeable.

photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT/WikimediaCC

Blooms: June - September
Found: In shady forests under pine needles.
Petals: Ghostly white.
Fun Fact: Technically, this is a flower, but it doesn't need the sun to grow and relies on underground fungi.

photo: Checkermallow / FlickrCC

Muskrats are close cousins to beavers.
Found: In ponds, marshes, and streams.
Lodges (Muskrat homes): Mounds made from mud and vegetation such as cattails and other woody plants.

photo: Don Burkett/FlickrCC & Brianne/FlickrCC

Deer hooves (photo) are commonly seen on or near trails. Their hooves make two side-by-side teardrop tracks. Other common prints are from raccoons, rabbits, opossums, and coyotes.

photo: QS Wiki Account, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

photo: Courtesy of Sibley State Park Improvement Association

photo: Courtesy of Sibley State Park Improvement Association

photo: Courtesy of Sibley State Park Improvement Association