Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Winged seeds called samaras grow on maple trees. These are seeds from the Japanese maple, _Acer palmatum_. AlessandroZocc/iStock ...

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. Seeds, samaras, helicopters: Whatever you call maple seeds, there is a bumper crop this spring in Iowa.

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When wind or other disturbances detach winged maple seeds called samaras from their parent tree, they spin through the air – and can even spin when it’s raining. Impacts by high-speed raindrops only ...