mynxr...I took my family to the outer banks this past summer and as always I look at and mentally study the vegetation / trees etc everywhere I go. While there and being in awe of the amount of salt in the air I got to thinking about fruit trees. I stayed in Hatteras and no way could I see a fruit tree surviving that environment. Farther up (north) past Buxton a bit where some trees with some size start to show up I began looking for fruit trees...anything. even an old apple. I saw nothing. When leaving I searched in every yard etc all the way until I deviated west on 64...again...nothing. After just a few miles on 64 though fruit trees started showing up in yards everywhere..the air was now clear too. Didn't have that foggy haze of salt laden air. I just don't think most fruit trees and especially pommes would survive that salt air. Plus. it seems that coastal soil is pretty devoid of what is necessary to grow a fruit tree. I could be wrong though and am interested in hearing other answers as it had me curious while there. On a different note, I bet you guys go through automobiles in a hurry. Every piece of ferrous metal I seen was terribly rusted, even the A/C unit on my rental was nearly eaten away and it was a model designed for coastal enviroments. I couldn't wait to get that crap washed off my car when I got home. Love it down there though.

Here is another picture of the fruit tree that I am trying to identify.

I purchased a three-in-one plum tree from Raintree last year. It has grown nicely and was well labelled. I weighted down the branches with rope and a stone to make the tree more open centered. Looks like it may be budded for fruit next year. I transferred some chip buds ( my first attempt at chip budding) to other plums that I have, so we'll see next spring if that was successful. I have been grafting scions onto existing apple and pear trees for a few years now. My first reaction when these grafts fruited was that flavor must be affected and in decline when a graft. (Mollie's Delicious on Jonathan had no taste; Vista Bella on same tree was o.k.) However, this year has changed that --Honeycrisp is one of four grafts on Hawkeye Delicious and is wonderful. The Grimes Golden on that tree is also great, and expecting great things from Florina in a few weeks. One thing I think I've learned is to not let the tree overbear.

Also want to add, this looks most like our Southern Bay Magnolia, which has a fat pod full of red seeds. I'm looking for a better photo of the Southern Bay pod, which I know I have somewhere.. but you can Google southern bay magnolia seed pods and see some images. Either way, the seed pod you have looks a bit worse for the wear. Do you have a magnolia tree (or perhaps does your neighbor)?