Aceraceae
Acer macrophyllum
Bigleaf maple

Look for: 
- Leaves up to 10 inches
- large, opposite, deeply lobed leaves,
- pendulous racemes of yellow flowers in the spring,
- strings of fuzzy paired samaras in the fall.

Aceraceae

Acer negundo var. californicum

California boxelder

Look for:
- opposite, pinnately-compound leaves of three (or five) leaflets,
- hanging clusters of smooth, paired samaras on female trees,
- foliage that turns from dull green to tan in the fall.

Aceraceae

Acer palmatum

Japanese maple

Look for:
- a small, multi-trunked tree or shrub,
- opposite, palmately-lobed leaves that resemble those of Cannabis,
- deep incisions between 5 to 9 narrow leaf lobes,
- doubly-serrate leaf margins,
- smooth, tiny samaras.

Aceraceae

Acer truncatum

Shantung maple

Look for:
- a small- to medium-sized tree, 
- opposite leaves with five lobes and the characteristic "wrinkles," 
- entire leaf margins, 
- smooth pairs of samaras.

Cornaceae

Aucuba japonica

Japanese aucuba

Look for:
- opposite, elliptic leaves with widely-spaced teeth, 
- green stems, 
- (under the right conditions) small fruit that ripen from green to red.

Cornaceae

Aucuba japonica 'Variegata'

Gold-dust plant

Look for:
- opposite, leathery leaves,
- green and gold variegation,
- coarsely serrated margins.

Cornaceae

Cornus stolonifera

Red-osier dogwood

Look for:
- wine-red stems,
- pairs of large elliptic to ovate leaves, 
- arcuate veination that bends around to parallel the leaf margin,
- veins that tend to push through the leaves and stand out on the underside.

Platanaceae

Platanus x acerifolia

London planetree

Look for:
- a thick, pale trunk that sheds flakes of bark, 
- leaves are broad, smooth, and shallowly lobed,
- seed balls that are usually in pairs (but sometimes individual or in threes).

Platanaceae

Platanus racemosa

California sycamore

Look for:
- A tree that can be single- or multi-trunked, 
- large stipules that circle the stem at leaf nodes,
- deep leaf lobes with (more or less) smooth margins, 
- leaves (especially young leaves) that are fuzzy,
- seed balls that are strung in groups of four or five on a raceme (hence the specific epithet "racemosa").

Rosaceae

Cotoneaster lacteus

Parney cotoneaster

Look for:
- an upright shrub,
- leaves and stems covered in dull fuzzy pubescence, 
- pomes that hang in large clusters and turn from green to red in the fall
- elliptic leaves that end in a tiny, needlelike tip.

Rosaceae

Crataegus phaenopyrum

Washington Thorn

Look for: 
- a small, rounded tree,
- triangular leaves with irregular serrations that often form a pair of lobes at the base, 
- clusters of bright red fruit that look like little apples (pomes),
- wicked long thorns.

Rosaceae

Heteromeles arbutifolia

Toyon, Christmas berry, California holly

Look for:
- a shrub or small tree,
- smooth, gray bark, like an elephant's leg,
- narrow elliptic leaves with distinctive margins,
- panicles of pomes that ripen from green to red or yellow.

Rosaceae

Prunus cerasifera cv

Purple-leaf plum

Look for: 
- a small tree with a rounded, purple canopy, 
- elliptic or ovate leaves,
- finely serrated leaf margins.

Rosaceae

Prunus laurocerasus

English laurel

Look for: 
- a large shrub,
- shiny, bright green foliage,
- alternate leaves with shallow, widely-spaced serrations on the margin, 
- small brown pits on backside of each leaf at the base.

Rosaceae

Pyracantha sp

Pyracantha, Firethorn

Look for:
- narrow, oblanceolate leaves, 
- many small white flowers with 5 petals in the springtime, 
- dense clusters of bright pomes (orange, sometimes red or yellow) in the fall,
- long, narrow terminal thorns.