Mimosa tree seed pods

Q : Can you please tell us what this is? It looks like there are dried up pods on it.

A: It tickles me that I was out walking the other day and I saw this exact tree and its pods in my neighborhood. I thought to myself “Someone is going to ask me what this is and I need to have my own photo”. So I took a picture… and now here you are asking what I anticipated.

Its a mimosa tree with seed pods. The pods look like bean pods because mimosa trees belong to the bean family, just like pole beans, sweet peas, kudzu and redbud trees. They all have the ability to absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it to plant food.

Though the seeds are bean-like, they are not considered edible.

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