Sounds like a mimosa tree, also called silk tree.

Gloria

infiniteMPG wrote:
We have a house in west central Florida on a wooded lot with scrub
oaks and southern pines and some other odd trees. A few years ago a
couple feet in front of one corner of the house a small stem of a
plant sprung up. This "tree" had a light color stalk or trunk and
leaves that looked a little like fern leaves. It looked neat so we let
it grow but over the next couple years the trunk grew to about a foot
across and the branches now umbrella over half the house. We like it
because it shades the roof from the hot Florida sun and it is a
beautiful tree.

The issue we have is that one large root that looks like a large
elephant's trunk on the ground, grows along the front of the house and
sinks down near the foundation. We had someone look at the tree and
called it an "air tree" and said there was no worry as it's very soft
wood and would not be able to disrupt the foundation of the house.
We're now trying to identify the tree and gather information to see if
this is true so if it can become a problem we'd rather remove it
before it's too big a problem.

Probably the most identifiable trait is the seed pods. They are big
enough to sit in the palm of your hand, probably about three inches
outside diameter, and maybe a half an inch thick, kind of a ring in
the shape of the letter "C" (like a 1" wide flattened bean pod curved
around into the shape of a "C"). Dark brown in color and hard with
bumps where the seeds exist inside. Very strange looking. Been
searching online and can't find anything on it. I have some pictures
at home but none with me here.

Any help identifying this "plant" (not even sure if it's really a
"tree") would be greatly appreciated. And any advice if having this
so close to the foundation might become an issue would be helpful,
too.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Scott