Liquid Amber Seed Pod

Because we don't get shockingly cold weather in zone 23, the leaves on the liquid amber take most of the fall to flutter to the ground. We have four trees in the front of the house (had five but one was destroyed in some vicious Santa Ana winds). Three of them have lost all of their leaves. The one closest to the house still has a few leaves dangling. Once the leaves are gone, the branches are starkly displayed with the spikey seed pod. On the driveway, thousands of little black-brown seeds are scattered waiting for the wind to whisk them to some fertile soil.