Star Anise?

I was taking a walk today on my lunch break and spotted this decrepit plant in someones yard.  I thought it was pretty neat looking.  It kinda looks like star anise.  I really have no idea if it is or not. I have no idea if star anise even grows around here.  I'm going to call it star anise tho because I have no better name for it.  Not to mention calling it random decrepit plant doesn't sound awesome at all. 

March 30, 2011:

My composition is a little off and I probably could've picked a better angle to shoot from...but I wasn't feeling too comfortable just prowling about in some strangers yard with a camera.  Can anyone say creepy?  Yep, totally creeptastic.  I wasn't into it.  So I just hopped in and tried to get the best shot I could before someone noticed me ;)

If you're into EXIF data, you can find it on flickr. 

Does anyone have any idea what this REALLY is??  Leave a comment and tell me what you think this might be.