
Samara is a winged achene from maple tree, type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. A samara is a simple dry fruit. The shape of a samara enables the wind to carry the seed farther away. The wind is making the seed autorotate as it falls, as in the maples (genus Acer) and ash trees (genus Fraxinus). A samara is sometimes called a key and is often referred to as a wingnut, helicopter or whirlybird, whirligig, polynose, or, in the north of England, a spinning jenny.