What is Samara (fruit)?
[[File:Acer circinatum 9468.JPG|thumb|right|vine maple (''[[Acer circinatum]]'')]] [[File:Combretum zeyheri MS2011ZA425.jpg|thumb|right|samara of ''[[Combretum]] zeyheri'']] [[File:Starr_040601-0006_Fraxinus_uhdei.jpg|thumb|right|Seeds of the tropical ash (''[[Fraxinus uhdei]]'')]] A '''samara''' is an [[achene]], a type of dry winged botanical [[fruit]].<ref>botanical fruit = seed with covering tissue, but not a fruit in ordinary speech.</ref> The shape of a samara enables the wind to carry the [[seed]] farther away than regular seeds from the parent tree:<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LKBcxNzHZAC|title=Trees of Pennsylvania and the Northeast|last=Fergus|first=Charles|date=2002 |publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9780811720922}}</ref> * The seed can be in the centre of the wing, like the [[elm]]s and the hoptree.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ds5HAQAAMAAJ|title=Catalogues of Plants: no. 1. Arthur J.C; Coulter J.M. and Barnes C.R. 1881. Catalogue of the phaenogamous and vascular cryptogamous plants of Indiana. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z57kAAAAMAAJ|title=Transactions of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society|date=1881 |publisher=Douglas & Foulis}}</ref> * The seed can be on one side, with the wing extending to the other side, making the seed self rotate it falls.<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|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9780801880599}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== {{Commons and category|Samara (fruit)|Samara (fruit)}} *Ralph Lorenz 2006. ''Spinning flight: dynamics of [[frisbee]]s, [[boomerang]]s, samaras and skipping stones'', , Copernicus New York. {{ISBN|0-387-30779-6}} {{fruits}} [[Category:Fruits]] [[Category:Plant anatomy]] {{Biology-stub}} {{Food-stub}}