Editing Samara (fruit)

{{Short description|Non-opening dry fruit with a flattened wing}}
{{other uses|Samara (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Acer circinatum 9468.JPG|thumb|right|Vine maple (''[[Acer circinatum]]'')]]
[[File:Combretum zeyheri MS2011ZA425.jpg|thumb|right|Samara of ''[[Combretum zeyheri]]'']]

A '''samara''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|m|ɑːr|ə}}, {{small|UK also:}} {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|æ|m|ər|-}})<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] online edition |title=samara |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/170334 |access-date=30 July 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> is a winged [[achene]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Gray |first=Asa |url=http://archive.org/details/botanyforyoungpe00gray_3 |title=Botany for young people and common subjects : how plants grow : a simple introduction to structural botany : with popular flora, or an arrangement and description of common plants, both wild and cultivated : illustrated by 500 wood engravings |date=1875 |publisher=New York : Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor |others=Fisher - University of Toronto |pages=79}}</ref> a type of [[fruit]] in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. A samara is a [[Simple fruit|simple]] [[dry fruits|dry fruit]], and is [[Dehiscence (botany)|indehiscent]] (not [[Dehiscence (botany)|opening along a seam]]). The shape of a samara enables the wind to carry the seed further away from the tree than regular seeds would go,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LKBcxNzHZAC|title=Trees of Pennsylvania and the Northeast|last=Fergus|first=Charles|date=2002-01-01|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9780811720922|language=en}}</ref> and is thus a form of [[anemochory]].

In some cases the seed is in the centre of the wing, as in the [[elm]]s (genus ''Ulmus''), the hoptree (''[[Ptelea trifoliata]]''), and the [[bushwillow]]s (genus ''[[Combretum]]'').
In other cases the seed is on one side, with the wing extending to the other side, making the seed [[autorotation (helicopter)|autorotate]] as it falls, as in the [[maple]]s (genus ''[[Acer (plant)|Acer]]'') and [[ash tree]]s (genus ''[[Fraxinus]]'').<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zj395mz_GYkC|title=Nature's Flyers: Birds, Insects, and the Biomechanics of Flight|last=Alexander|first=David E.|last2=Vogel|first2=Steven|date=2004-10-13|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9780801880599|language=en}}</ref>

There are also single-wing samara such as [[mahogany]] (genus [[Swietenia]]) which have a shape that enables fluttering.

Some species that normally produce paired samaras, such as ''[[Acer pseudoplatanus]]'', can also produce them in groups of three or four.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/plantbiomechanic0000nikl|url-access=registration|title=Plant Biomechanics: An Engineering Approach to Plant Form and Function|last=Niklas|first=Karl J.|date=1992-08-01|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226586304|language=en}}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed>
File:TripleSycamoreSamara.png|Unusual group of three samaras of sycamore maple (''[[Acer pseudoplatanus]]''. Normally, they are in pairs.)
File:Starr_040601-0006_Fraxinus_uhdei.jpg|Seeds of the tropical ash (''[[Fraxinus uhdei]]'')
File:Ptelea_trifoliata_20050606_635_part.jpg|The hoptree (''[[Ptelea trifoliata]]'')
File:Ulmus-pumila-samaras.jpg|The Siberian elm (''[[Ulmus pumila]]'')
</gallery>

==In culture==
A samara is sometimes called a ''key<ref name=":0" />'' and is often referred to as a ''[[wingnut (hardware)|wingnut]]'', ''[[helicopter]]'', ''[[wikt:whirlybird|whirlybird]]''<!--changed from whirlibird-->, ''[[whirligig]]'', ''polynose'', or, in the north of England, a ''[[spinning jenny]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blogs/woodland-trust/2014/08/wind-seed-dispersal/|title=Seed dispersal by wind: Gone with the wind - Woodland Trust|website=www.woodlandtrust.org.uk|access-date=2016-03-15}}</ref> During the autumn months, they are a popular source of amusement for people that enjoy tossing them in the air and watching them spin to the ground.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons and category|Samara (fruit)|Samara (fruit)}}

* ''Spinning Flight : Dynamics of Frisbees, Boomerangs, Samaras and Skipping Stones'', Ralph Lorenz,  Copernicus New York, September 2006  {{ISBN|0-387-30779-6}}

{{Fruits}}

[[Category:Fruit morphology]]


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