Tree ID help.

Can someone help me identify a tree? I am sorry but I am unable to post a picture. It appears to have an ash tree leaf (serrated, double pinnate, asymmetrical base, not fuzzy, not shiny, opposite, dark green) and had smooth dark gray bark when young which is now rough and deeply fissured. In spring, it produces tiny lavender star shaped (5 tiny petals) flowers with a prominent pistal and a wonderful perfume scent. The flowers appear as tiny bouquets or groups. It then produces pods that look just like garbanzo beans when they have dried to a tan color. I am in zone 7. I rescued the tree about 6 years ago in a 1 gallon pot and about 5 ft tall and almost dead from Walmart at the end of the season. It had lost the label. I felt sorry for the poor tree. It is now about 25 ft tall so it is fast growing. I thought it might be a flowering ash but they have white larger flowers unless I missed another variety. I took a college class in plant propagation and the professor could not identify it when samples were provided. I love this tree as it is well behaved and it is good for shade, aesthetics and scent and I want to take the pods for propagation at my new home in zone 8. I have not found another one like it. Thanks in advance.

Kat,
I think I could help you if I had a photo to go by, but it is nearly impossible to identify a plant without seeing it. Even if we think we may know what it is, it is hard to verify without something to compare to. Are you sure you can't take a photo and post it? If you don't have a camera, how about getting a friend with a camera phone to snap it? Or... if you just don't know how to post a picture, let us know and we can walk you through that.

Off the top of my head -- just guessing! -- I'm wondering about the locusts -- black or honey locust. They have doubly pinnate leaves, produce a pod, grow quite large and smell wonderful. You might start there.

Flowers are wrong though -- more pea-like.

Maybe some form of acacia?

This description sounds like chinaberry (Melia azederach). Google this and see if it matches. It is a distant relative of neem and is insecticidal, and the fruits are poisonous. It's often condemned as an "invasive exotic" in much of the Southeast where it grows, but, like most other such plants, seems to be a pioneer species and relatively short-lived......

That's it...Chinaberry. I am very disappointed that it is poisonous to livestock. I wonder if they will avoid it like they do oleander. I am glad that I didn't turn my horse out there to weed abate! I still want at least one but it will be placed in front of the house again for sure. I haven't had it produce any seedlings but lots of pods. Thank you, well done since I didn't post a picture.