Sweetgum-

Liquidambar styraciflua

This tree was a rather young tree, so the picture that is supposed to be of the bark is not extremely accurate, although you can see fine marks in the tree if you look closely. As you can see, The leaves are a vibrant green with five lobes. It is also known as the red gum, star-leaved gum, alligator wood and the gumtree. It grows best in moist and acidic soil, and it often is found near swamps and marshes; hence the name alligator wood. Full-grown, it can reach from 80-150 ft in height. The bark is light grey and deeply furrowed. It the second most used hardwood tree after oaks. The fruit are wood-like spike balls, and, to me, somewhat similar to a green sea urchin. It is native to the south eastern United States, though they are sometimes found in central Mexico and the countries of Central America.

The crushed leaves produce and aromatic pine-like scent, and apparently the wood chips can be used for mushroom gardening. It can be used as an antiseptic,although my source did not say how. The sap is the most medicinally commonly used part of this particular type of tree. When made a certain way, it is called liquid amber. Liquid amber can treat frostbite, hemorrhoids, rashes, and ringworm scabies, when taken externally as a salve or balsam. When taken internally, liquid amber can help with sore throats, coughing, colds, asthma, cystitis, bronchitis, even strokes, and is found to be able to help some kinds of cancer that I do not know of.

Sources:

http://medicinalherbinfo.org/herbs/SweetGum.html
http://www.ehow.com/info_8685593_medicinal-uses-sweet-gum-trees.html
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/liquidambar/styraciflua.htm
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/sweetgum.htm

Wild Blackberry

Rubus Fruticosus

Basic Information:
Although I do not like these berries, they are a beautiful species of plant. They are sour when they are dry, but the best time to pick and eat is right after a rain when the berries are sweet. The leaves are ridged around the edges, and the stem(s) are very thorny. The bushes that produce a lot of berries are usually low-hanging, or close to the ground, and widespread, such as the plant above. I'm not sure if you can see how many berries that the bush has, but to explain slightly, I have been able to pick about 3 ripe berries off this plant every single day since the beginning of June, and still there are new berries growing! The chances are, if the plant is growing straight up, the aren't any berries on it. This plant is very vulnerable to a type of fungus called the honey fungus. I believe you can see a little bit of the fungi on the right side of the right berry in the picture.

Medicinal Uses:
If you make a tea from the leaves, it has a useful usage that helps sore throats and prolonged diarrhea. Chewing fresh leaves can help cure bleeding gums and other disorders of the mouth.

Good-bye!