I have a plant growing in my flower bed that I initially thought was a Mimosa Tree. The plant had a heavy green trunk with mimosa type leaves spaced uniformly along the trunk, but further apart that Mimosa's I've seen. Then it sprouted small (dime sized) yellow flowers, almost looked like little orchids. Now it has long thin seed pods. I've attached photos in the seed pod stage, but have none in the flower stage. Please help identify. Not sure if to leave it be, move to ground or pull up.
Spot on Axel, that's it. googled Sesbania herbacea and the pictures are a perfect match. How it got to North Carolina, I can only speculate that the soil I bought at Home Depot must have come from Alabama, this plants native habitat. Thanks for the ID.
Sesbania herbacea is widespread in the US (and is present in parts of North Carolina as well). http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SEHE8
