Question
My friend and I were walking through and old cemetery and I noticed these pods that had fallen from a tree.  They were dark brown 3- 4 inches wide and 5 - 6 inches long...give or take an inch in either direction.  They looked very much like brown leather.  When I opened  it had a green sticky substance inside that had a smell which was not unpleasant and seeds that were about the size of a penny and puffy.  I can't tell you anything about the actual tree as it had no leaves.  My granddaughter's class is going to be studying seeds and each child is to bring in some seeds for discussion and I would really love to know what kind of tree these might be from.  If it is of any help, we live in southern Indiana.
Thank you for your time
Jane Anderson

Answer
There are several trees that have pods. Honey Locust, Black Locust and Kentucky Coffee tree are the most common. In your case I would guess Kentucky Coffee tree.
Fruits up to 8" long and 0.75" thick, bold-textured purplish-brown stout pods mature in Autumn on female or polygamo-dioecious trees, containing seeds (with a very hard seedcoat) embedded within the sweet and sticky pulp of the fruit. Here is a picture of the fruit.

http://www.wcisel.com/plants/kentuckycoffeetree/coffee_tree-5000.jpg

Here is a couple of links to more information about this tree.


http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=158

http://hcs.osu.edu/hcs/TMI/Plantlist/gy_oicus.html