We are under the impression that our "Uncle Brent", who is a PH.D scientist, knows the answers to all scientific questions that we ever have in life. If mom can't answer it, we say, "I wish Uncle Brent were here...he'd know the answer." We really should skype with Uncle Brent more often, and Aunt Melissa (who is a doctor, so she's no dummy herself :-) Since we don't, we still don't know what kind of tree these odd seed pods belong to. Can anyone tell us?
5 comments:
This is the seed pod of the Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioicus). The fruit is dehiscent, meaning that it splits open on both sides when the seeds are mature and dried. You'll notice that this is similar to beans and peas since they are both in the same family (Fabaceae). This is the legume family. Species in this family have a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria (Rhizobia). That is, legumes get their nitrogen primarily from the air rather than from the soil. The bacteria live in small nodules all over the root system. The plants provide the bacteria with sugars, organic acids, and other nutrients - and a place to live. The biochemistry of the symbiosis is quite interesting.
Soybeans are a legume and they produce large quantities of oil and protein for human and animal foods. They are nice to grow in Northeast Missouri since they are drought resistant and require no nitrogen fertilizer. If other species could fix nitrogen (such as corn) then fertilizer applications could be greatly reduced while maintaining productivity. Some are trying to genetically engineer corn to do this. However, this is a polygenetic trait between two species and would be very complex to implement.
The Kentucky coffee tree was once used for a coffee substitute, but I hear it tastes pretty nasty and can be poisonous in large quantities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Coffee_Tree
Kristin,
Check out this legume...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa
Do you remember where you've seen it?
This is just the answer i was looking for :-)
Fascinating and thoughtful response. You lost me at gymnocladus dioicus though.
That's my tree! Thanks for the interesting lessons on the seed pods my son collects and dissects.
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