Identify by feature
Tree or shrub with pods: which one is it?
A tree with pods is, in our region, usually a false acacia (flat brown pods), a common laburnum, a Judas tree or an Indian bean tree with long, thin ‘beans’; a shrub with black pods on sandy soil is broom.
11 species with this feature
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False acacia Robinia pseudoacacia
Broadleaf tree
Flat brown pods 5–10 cm that stay on the tree for a long time.
Invasive non-native: do not plantPoisonous
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Common laburnum Laburnum anagyroides
Broadleaf tree
Flat, hairy pods 4–6 cm long with black seeds, which stay on the tree for a long time.
Poisonous
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Judas tree Cercis siliquastrum
Broadleaf tree
Flat, reddish-brown pods (6–10 cm) that hang on into winter.
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Indian bean tree Catalpa bignonioides
Broadleaf tree
Thin, bean-like pods 20–40 cm that hang on all winter.
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Japanese pagoda tree Styphnolobium japonicum
Broadleaf tree
Green, fleshy pods 5–8 cm long, constricted between the seeds like a string of beads; they hang on into winter.
Poisonous
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Japanese wisteria Wisteria floribunda
Climber
Velvety pods of 10–15 cm; the seeds are poisonous.
Poisonous
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Broom Cytisus scoparius
Shrub
Flat, hairy pods that turn black and audibly snap open in the summer sun.
NativePoisonous
Tip: Most pod-bearing trees belong to the pea family and are poisonous, especially the seeds of laburnum, false acacia and wisteria. Look at the leaf: pinnate in false acacia, with three leaflets in laburnum, round in the Judas tree.