Samara (fruit) - Citizendia

Maple fruits: keys

A samara is a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and the term is not synonymous in Food preparation and Biology. A samara is a simple dry fruit and indehiscent (not opening along a seam). The shape of a samara enables the wind to carry the seed away from the parent tree:

The seed can be in the centre of the wing, as in the elms (genus Ulmus) and the hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata). Elms are Deciduous and Semi-deciduous Trees comprising the genus Ulmus, family Ulmaceae, found
The seed can be on one side, with the wing extending to the other side, making the seed spiral as it falls, as in the maples (genus Acer) and ashes (genus Fraxinus). Acer ( maple) is a Genus of Trees or Shrubs They are variously classified in a family of their own the Aceraceae, or An ash can be any of four different tree genera from four very distinct families; most commonly in a combined form (e

A samara is sometimes called a key and is often referred to as a helicopter or whirligig or a polynose. History Since 400 AD Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys. A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls or has at least one member that spins or whirls in the wind

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