You will need a notebook and a pencil or crayon. Find any leaf with few to no holes or tears. Try to pick one off the ground if you can, rather than pulling them off of a tree. Place the leaf below a piece of paper, and gently color the page with your pencil or crayon, to reveal the texture of the leaf.
The images below will help to identify some of the common trees of Massachusetts, from which the leaf could have came.
Maple leaves have 5 main points, one in the center, and 2 smaller ones on each side. Each point has a vein that begins at the base of the leaf where its stem is located. It will also have varying smaller veins branching from those.
Oak leaves have a very unique shape. They are long, and have rounded points that extend in the direction of the leaf's growth. The veins will branch off into these points, from a larger center vein that grows from the stem.
The American Elm is the State Tree of Massachusetts. These leaves are round/oval shaped, with small pointed ridges around the edges of the leaf. They have a large central vein running down the center.
Birch leaves are similar to Elm leaves, but they are more "teardrop" shaped, with a pointed end. They also have a main central vein. Birch trees are also likely to have white/lighter bark, but not all species have this feature.
Beech leaves are long and pointed. These leaves have smaller ridges along the edges of the leaf. They also have a large vein running down the center. The smaller veins that branch off reach the very edge of the leaf.
Dogwood leaves have a large center vein, just like most leaves on this list. They are oval shaped, with a pointed end. But, unlike other similar leaves, Dogwood tree leaves lack ridges. The edges are smooth all around.