What type of tree is growing in my backyard?

Is there a college with an agriculture or Biology department nearby? Take one of the seed pods in and ask them.

is it a mimosa tree

@chyna: Faulty link. But it sounds like you made the right ID. FTW!

See info below about seed pods. Source

“Mimosa trees grow quickly, attaining heights of 30 to 40 feet in five or 10 years. Although somewhat fragile, they’re cold hardy only in USDA zones 6 through 10. But mimosas are fairly easy to grow and virtually care-free once established. Copious clouds of fragrant pink flowers bloom on mature trees from May through July and are followed by flat, 6-inch-long straw-colored pods. These contain from five to 10 flat, ½ inch-long, light-brown oval seeds that begin ripening in August. While many remain on the tree through December, many more are dropped generously under the tree, scattered by weather and wildlife.”

@gailcalled Hopefully fixed, thanks. We had one in our back yard as a kid.

Perhaps it’s a Jacaranda mimosifolia, although the Wiki article doesn’t mention South Carolina as a habitat.

@Brian1946: Jacaranda is gorgeous but doesn’t have the right seed pods. I saw them in San Fran.

Could it be a Magnolia Tree from the way the pods sound it reminds me of a Magnolia Tree that a neighbor of mine had.

Is it a Sycamore tree?

Purple Robe Locust Tree

Sycamore does not flower like that and has winged seeds.

Magnolias have neither purple blooms nor seed pods described by the OP (see here )

Purple Robe Locust does not produce seeds.

Yes @gailcalled Purple Locust have the same type of seed pods as black or ‘regular’ locust. And they are 2 to 6 inches long. Inside of the pods they have shiny, smooth black seeds.

EDIT: Like many plants in the pea family, it has light-green, feathery leaves and long seed pods.

Take a photograph.

@gailcalled There are actually purple Magnolia trees one of whch is the Magnolia and they do have seed pods

Lets see some pictures of the tree with close-ups of leave, flowers, fruiting bodies, seeds and bark. Also accurate metric measurements of the flowers and seeds to the nearest millimeter would help.

Is it a Catalpa tree? Big heart shaped leaves, I think white or pink blooms usually, long seed pods? Pics would be best.

I was going to guess catalpa too.

Edit to the link in my response above its suppose to be Magnolia Liliiflora

@all: Thanks for doing the research and letting me relax and look at pretty pictures.

We do need photos of something.

I’m going to apologize to everybody for this question. Long story short, one of my family members told be about the “tree” and showed me the seed pods. I probably could have done the research myself. I asked Fluther too soon, before I really tried my own identification. Upon actually going out to inspect the tree, I found out that it wasn’t much a tree. It actually appears to be the woody vine, wisteria. So, thanks for your effort.