We were busy again over the weekend trying to identify mostly trees. It was more difficult since most of the deciduous trees had lost all of their leaves so we were limited in just identifying pine trees and leaves which were on the ground. A few plants we could not figure out... 1) This tree was bare. There was such a mixture of leaves on the ground I could not tell which leaves went with which tree. The trunk reminded me of rock elm branches, yet the branches themselves were smooth - only the trunk was rough. 2) This small shrub was scattered throughout the park, and except for the berries it was bare. From past answers I would guess this is something from the euonymus genus, but am not sure. 3) This stuff was growing in clumps near the lake and along the trails. It has a herbal scent to it when crushed. I would guess something from the mint family, but it does not have square stems. Then again - creeping charlie and garlic mustard do not have square stems, they are U-shapped (if someone could explain THIS to us, please do!) 4+5) Large stands of this growing all along the sandy shore of the freshwater lake. The closest thing I could find on the internet was waterwort, but these leaves are not at all fleshy. 6+7) Small low growing groundcover all over the sands of the beach. I never even noticed this plant before, it just blends in. Are the two plants in photo 7 the same plant? And what is that plant with purple stems creeping in on the right side?
It is difficult to tell from the photos, but if #4-5 have trifoliate leaves, then it might be a Lespedeza
2.Stunning photo.It is not a Euonymus,however I believe this may be Celastrus scandens. Try this site http://www.critsite.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=100094
Embarrassingly enough I asked about a Hackberry tree when it had leaves in the beginning of October. We need to start paying more attention to the tree bark.
Yes, it is trifoliate, and I think you may be right; maybe Lespedeza cuneata? http://images.google.com/imgres?img...&ndsp=21&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&safe=active&sa=N
Yes, I think you are right, that does look exactly like those berries. Another angle shows the berries a little better. There are six sepal-looking partitions and 6 "partitions" per berry.
