Pine Cone Seeds with Wings: How Conifers Spread
Winged pine seeds use a papery extension to slow descent after cone release, giving wind more time to carry them away from the parent tree.
Winged Seeds & Plant Structures
Explore winged seeds, samaras and other alate plant structures, including morphology, wind dispersal, germination and plant-family examples.
Ash Tree Seeds: Alate Structure and Wind Dispersal
Ash samaras combine a seed-bearing body with a narrow wing. Shape and wing loading influence descent, rotation, and wind-driven dispersal.
Maple Samara: How Winged Seeds Fly and Germinate
Maple samaras are winged fruits that autorotate as they fall. Shape, mass distribution, and the wing slow descent and aid wind dispersal.