Fall is the perfect time to go on a hunt for leaves. The reason is obvious but we’ll point it out anyway: With so many on the ground, access to a wide variety couldn’t be any easier, especially for those really short people you tuck into bed every night. With the help of Edith Makra Kusnierz, community trees advocatefor the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, we’ve rounded up a colorful assortment but will leave it to you to identify what trees the leaves belong to. After you’ve quizzed yourself, tear out this page, go for a walk and see how many you can find and identify. The winner gets dibs on jumping into the biggest raked pile of leaves.
Callery pear
This tree’s dark green leaves (right) will turn shades of red (left), but will hold the leaves until late in the fall. Its grown for its spring flowers and fall color, not its inedible brown-globe fruit.
Elm
The large, relatively fast-growing shade tree commonly recognized by tall arching branches has been hard hit by disease, although disease-resistant versions are being developed.
Freeman maple
A hybrid (cross) between the hardy and tenacious silver maple and the more delicate but beautiful red maple, it thrives in the challenging urban landscape.
Ginkgo
This is a botanically unique tree that grows slowly and is very long lived. Fossils that contain these leaves indicate the tree grew when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The female tree bears a smelly fruit that is prized for its medicinal properties.
Hackberry
This hardy tree matures into a reliable and handsome shade tree. The bark on young trees has a peculiar warty texture and a light gray color. It’s a member of the elm family.
Honeylocust
Native to Illinois, this tree may be seen in the woods, often with giant, menacing-looking thorns on the trunk. The commonly planted cultivated varieties have no thorns; some trees some produce a large, twisty bean pod that can be nearly a foot long.
Kentucky coffee tree
Mature trees are striking and majestic and have a tall, elegant stature. Here’s a big hint: The name derives from its historic use as a coffee substitute; the stout bean pods contain round black seeds that resemble coffee beans.
Redbud
This is a pretty little ornamental tree that grows under the shade of larger trees, with a bark that is a rusty color and develops fissures with age. The early spring flowers are tiny and numerous, giving the appearance of a wispy purple cloud parked in the tree.
Sugar maple
This is the dominant tree of eastern forests and is considered among the showiest for fall color. It’s the tree that produces maple syrup and its leaf is featured on the Canadian flag.
Sycamore
Related to the plane tree, it’s commonly found along rivers and streams. It’s affectionately known as the buttonball tree, for its golf-ball sized cluster of seeds.
Tulip tree
Showy flowers on this tree in mid-summer are a bold orange, green and yellow — and look just like tulips. The tree’s empty seed heads can catch snow and resemble tiny ice cream cones.
White oak
This magnificent tree is native to Illinois woodlands and grows a broad crown with branches often growing parallel to the ground. It is the state tree of Illinois.
White pine
In natural areas, this tree can be very large, more resembling a shade tree in outline than the commonly sought Christmas tree shape. The very tall, straight trunks were so prized for ship masts that the British crown often claimed this type of tree for the Royal Navy.
White ash
This large tree, common to natural areas, is now under threat by an invasive insect. Its strong, flexible wood shows up in baseball bats.
