Leaves are important for ID, along with size and growth habit - but I'll have a guess and say some kind of evergreen Magnolia.

yes, I would agree with Bamboo... looks like magnolia seedhead:)

wow, how interesting. I've never seen the like.

Wow that looks sore.?

Definitely a magnolia species, but probably not evergreen, looking at the leaf and stem. How tall is the tree? May be a M. campbellii type, but they only flower after several years, which is why I asked about the tree size. Phil J

I was assuming the thick green leaves on the left belonged to the plant - they look evergreen to me, but maybe not...

Hard to tell. A lot of the deciduous Magnolias have remarkably leathery leaves.