What you see here is an open and unopened pod. Heat causes these things to pop open. If you hold them between your fingers they pop. It's a very strange sensation. I wish I could tell you the name of the plant, but the thing came up on it's own this year. I trust by the number of pods that have dropped their seeds so far, I will have many more next year.
Thanks to all for your compliments. They are much appreciated. In an effort to clear up the mystery of the name of the plant from which these pods come, I took a few more pics of the host plant and posted them in my gallery. This is a link to that gallery if you'd like to take a guess as to what this plant is; http://www.pbase.com/rescuecity4all/the_garden I welcome all info on this mystery plant. In the meantime, my inner child will continue to pop the pods!