I found a weird pod-like fruity thing on the ground. When I looked up, all I could see were a tree and what seemed to be a parasitic vine. I supposed the fruit body came from the vine because oak trees, last time I checked, do not produce green fruity things. I took a picture of what looked sort of like one up in the vines but it was too far to see
clinging vines with aerial rootlets along the stem
On second examination, I discovered that rather than being a fruit, the pod is a flower. Look at the cross section. The pink part is the anther/ ovary and the white closest to the end/ flat part is actually a group of petals.
update: 2/23/2012
Through the help of Floridagirl33 (http://www.projectnoah.org/users/florida33girl), although this was not her original suggestion, I finally identified it as Ficus pumila. Also known as the creeping fig.
http://www.floridata.com/ref/f/ficu_pum.cfm
An interesting fact about it's usage here in the state of Florida:
~ The city of Orlando, Florida uses this vine to soften concrete freeway supports which helps to dampen traffic noise as well as provide visual relief. Disney and the other theme parks make use of creeping fig to create "instant" topiary. Wire frameworks are created of geometric shapes, animals, and even famous cartoon characters. The frames are lined with spaghum moss and filled with growing medium. Creeping fig is planted in the frame which rapidly grows to cover the shape in a thin coat of fine-textured juvenile leaves.
^^ little green thing mid-picture
^^ the vines
^^cross section
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