Earlleaf Acacia is as close as I could get.

They look like a Jamaican Dogwood seedpods, but I don't know Jamaican Dogwood would grow in AZ.

Thanks for the replies buggy and nel5397, I appreciate them. Yours was a great candidate buggy, the seed pods are similar but the leaves on the zoo plant have leaflets and so look different, but you're so right about the seed pods being similar!

I googled images of Jamaican Dogwood and your are definitely correct, Nel, that's exactly the plant, Piscidia erythrina. Thanks for the ID and thanks again to both of you for replying!

I've got some seeds now so I'll give it a try. The clump was quite large and happy at the zoo. I'll do some research to see how it behaves here and will give it a try. Why not, right?

Thanks again, Happy gardening!
Grant, always eager to dumpster dive for seeds and plant material, hah!

Here is a link that might be useful: One of many links for Jamaican dogwood/fish poison tree

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Why not try it indeed.

LOL, waterbug. Thanks for your help in trying to ID them.

Seeds are nicked (last night) and soaking (this morning). Clearly they do well here since the ones at the zoo are huge and numerous. We'll see how these do.

Here's a quick pic of the dry seeds with Wilson the tennis ball to show size.

{{gwi:2122408}}

Happy gardening all!
Grant

You can tell which two I nicked before soaking, lol (upper right). I nicked the others and soaked them more. Now all five are planted in a small pot. We'll see what we see.

{{gwi:2122409}}

Happy gardening all,
Grant