These are some pods from the catalpa tree down the street.  The pods still on the tree have opened and dropped their seed.  The pods on the ground, such as the image on the right, are mostly still intact.  Most of the pods I saw on the ground were 10-12″, while the ones on the trees seemed to be a bit longer – I’m not sure why the difference.  Maybe a survival of the fittest kind of thing?  One other difference that you will note is the color of the pods.  The ones left hanging on the tree are a brindled and woody dark brown and coppery color, and the ones on the ground were a kind of purpley brown.  Anyway, there you go – giant green beans.  One final image in the series on Sunday.

In case you missed it, my post at Vision and Verb was up on Wednesday – check it out!  While you are there, spend a few minutes reading some of the other fine posts by the wonderful women (and occasional man) at Vision and Verb.