In total shade in a back border my sister discovered this small blooming tree. There are a few of them close together here in NW IN. We think it's a locust of some sort but hoping for a more definitive identification. Sis had issues getting a decent photo and they turned out pretty grainy.

Maybe

Wow - I never would have thought of wisteria. It's growing pretty much upright with no support although you can't see that from the picture. My dad (who's now gone) might have planted it but he was always about keeping the wild stuff. The flower color is pretty close but does wisteria have hairy stems?

I don't think they do, I'd even say that looks bristled it's so hairy! I thought it was fine thorns like a rose gets on the bloom stem.

The pic is awfully grainy, your right, and my screen is tiny! So I can't see it well enough to say for sure but I think you have something else there.

I'd say legume family ( peas and locusts) the leaves look the part and I think if I see the flowers right they look like legume flowers too...

I'll be watching!

Could it be Robinia hispida, rose acacia/bristly locust?

Edited to add links:
http://www.illinoiswildflowers...
https://www.uwgb.edu/biodivers...

Our American Wisteria has much longer bloom clusters than that. Are you sure that's it? The American Wisteria won't stand on its own like that without support. My dad's has been attached to a support for 5 years and still won't stay up without support.

clintbrown said:Our American Wisteria has much longer bloom clusters than that. Are you sure that's it? The American Wisteria won't stand on its own like that without support. My dad's has been attached to a support for 5 years and still won't stay up without support.

bamira did not say that it was American Wisteria, only offering a suggestion as a possibility. But I agree with you that it is not American Wisteria.

Boy, those stems on the plants in the links sure look the same. I do know that it wasn't planted recently and has probably been there for years - just never saw it in bloom before. While it's located in oak/hickory woodland, we're only 20 miles or so from the IN dunes where it's considered an invasive. I'd say the height of the tree is probably around 8 to 10 feet. Or it's possible my dad dug it up down around the Kankakee River where he had property.
Should I consider this one solved?

on the second picture is seeing a broken stem, such as Robinia hispida
the leaves are rounded, I don't know if she is hairy

Second pic - it's hard to tell if the stems are hairy because the pic gets really grainy when I enlarge it.

sooby said:Could it be Robinia hispida, rose acacia/bristly locust?

Edited to add links:
http://www.illinoiswildflowers...
https://www.uwgb.edu/biodivers...

Just on the common names alone, if guess that right, seem to describe it well!
It does appear to match the pics too, or close, but the name seems very apt.

https://www.google.com/search?...

That looks like it!

Thanks for the link, Frilly. I'll get dizzy checking out all of the pics. I never thought that a locust could bloom so beautifully.
I did email the links for the bristly locust to my sister so she can check it against the actual tree but I think we've got a match. Has to be a native of some sort as my dad would never spend the money on shrubs, trees or perennials.

According to BONAP it does grow wild in Indiana, but it is considered adventive.

http://bonap.net/MapGallery/Co...

Yep - it would seem so.