Maple samaras represent just one way that seeds use the wind to disperse farther. A dandelion’s parachute-like float relies on the seed’s light weight and high drag .

In nature, maple disperse to new growth sites with the help of flying wings in their samara, or dry fruit. The wings help the seed to rotate as it falls, allowing it to glide in a gentle breeze.

The spinning flight of a maple samara. In a February 2025 study, my colleagues and I filmed raindrops as they crashed into autorotating samaras. The samaras shed drops by shattering them, ...

Spinning maple seeds can shed raindrops in the blink of an eye to regain their helicopter-like flight.

These seeds rotate like maple samaras, but the wing also rolls around the axis that runs across its wingspan as it does so. ADVERTISEMENT Not only do we plan to compare their flight performance ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Andrew Dickerson, University of Tennessee (THE CONVERSATION) When wind or other ...