A chipmunk resembles a common tree squirrel, but is only about 5 -6 inches in length, not including its bushy tail. It is a rusty brown animal with a varying number of darker and lighter stripes on its back, with an off white underbelly.. Chipmun have been put into the same category as ground squirrels, but although terrestrial, they also forage in trees.

LEAVES: Opposite, compound, with 3-5 coarsely and irregularly toothed leaflets, each 2"-4" long and 2"-3" wide. TWIGS: Stout, purplish-green or green, sometimes smooth but often with a whitish coating and scattered raised lenticels. FRUIT: Wings about 1½"-2" long, parallel or in-curved, borne in drooping clusters. Fruits mature in September but fruit-stalks persist far into winter. BARK: Branches and young trunks smooth and grayish-brown, older trunks distinctly narrow ridged and seldom scaly. GENERAL: A medium sized tree, occasionally to 70' high. Trunk usually short, dividing into stout branches forming a deep broad crown. Typically found in low moist areas, floodplains and stream banks. Most abundant in eastern and southern Pennsylvania, common along streams in the southwestern part and scattered elsewhere. Used in ornamental plantings.

Subalpine fir forests are recognized by their narrow crowns and dark green color. And no seeds.