This looks like a vine to me, five leaves suggesting virginia creeper.

Hmm, I'm not so sure...but that's a good suggestion and I'll keep that in mind as this thing grows more!!

http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/fnr/stoutwoods/vrtrail/virginia_creeper.jpg
http://www.museums.org.za/bio/images/enb6/enb06244x.jpg

I've never seen virginia creepers in that area before, and I thought virginia creepers needed a great deal of light

I do not think virginia creeper. In my area the first true leaf looks like the adult plant just smaller. When they just come up from the soil virginia creeper and poison ivy are very similar. The leaf has the appearance of a wild plum or cherry leaf

Virginia Creepers grow very well in shady areas. Mine is in shade and I find little plants every year dispersed by birds eating the berries on it. It does look like VC, with the palmately compound foliage and the slight reddish center where the leaves meet in the middle.

Here is a great weed ID site I found, reflecting the seedling appearance.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Creeper

Ehh, I dunno....Those have individual leaves...This is weird because the petioles on the VC seem to diverge from the stem and then there's a 5 fingered leaf..

But on this seedling, there are petioles with only 1 blade to each of them.

What I also fine weird is that on each of these, there are these things neaar the bottom of the stem. Refer to the 1st picture. It's not in great focus, but that thing near the bottom, it's sticking upwards...It's like some kind of stipule, or leaf...doesn't look like a tendril or root to me - it's green....

So...it's like...uhh, what is that thing, why is it so far at the bottom of the stem, and why isn't anything growing from it?

Weird.

I should also mention that these had white fibrous roots, not dark woody ones or anything like that.

Here is a picture of a baby, about half as tall and half as old as the 1st pictures.
{{gwi:1052754}}
This is a picture on the older seedling of the little green thing that is about 80% the way DOWN the stem (so it's near the bottom, basically, but nowhere near the rootbase or soil)
{{gwi:1052755}}

It's always hard to be sure with young plants, but I think this is starflower (Trientalis borealis). Starflower is common in the woods of eastern Massachusetts. Like your plant, starflower has its leaves clustered at the top of the stem, and the leaves are often of different sizes.

Here is a link that might be useful: starflower

i think you may be right. that's awesome. for some reason i am really excited.

SORRY... :o)) just giggling at your expense but how do you know it's native if you don't know what it is? ;o)

Barb
southern Ontario, CANADA

chances were it was native. and it was