Maple trees - helicopters to guitars

I remember when I was a youngster; my brother and I would run under and around our maple trees and chase after polypodys. As the wind blew, they flew like helicopters from the trees around our home. I looked up polypodys on the Internet, but what I found was nothing like the things we called polypodys. I found they are actually called samaras or maple keys. Some people call them helicopters or whirligigs while others call them polynoses. Perhaps that is why I called them polypodys.

A samara is the fruit of maple, ash, elm trees, and a few other trees. After the tree flowers, the fruit occurs in pairs with each one containing a seed in a nutlet. As the maple keys leave the tree, they separate and each winged side spins carrying its seeds on the wind. Sometimes they travel a very long distance. This ensures that new trees can germinate far from the parent tree.

My brother and I would chase after the spiraling seeds, and we would split open the nutlet with our thumbnails and place the slightly sticky polynose on our nose. We would have a contest to see whose polynose stayed on the longest. Sometimes we just wore them just to be goofy. We would take some polynoses home and into the house where we would turn them into whistles that drove our Mom crazy. If you place the polynose (wing) between your thumbs (like you would a blade of grass) you blow into it and it makes quite a really nice whistling sound.

Samaras can be found in the spring or in the fall. This year there seems to more than I have seen in the maple trees around my home. A samara is a type of fruit. The maple key (samara) has a wing on one end with the seed on the other end. The shape of the samara enables the wind to carry them long distances from the parent tree. The samara spirals as it falls to the ground. On a windy day you can see hundreds of samaras spiraling to the ground. One tree can release hundreds at one time. They are truly amazing to watch as they spin through the air.

If you inspect the ground near and around a maple tree, you will usually find the polynoses sprouting. Maple trees are very important. Maples are an important source of wood. Some of the sugar maples in North America are known as “hard maple”. This wood is the choice for bowling alley lanes, bowling pins, pool cue shafts, butcher blocks, and occasionally baseball bats. Some maple wood have highly decorative wood grains. These occur randomly and are known as quilt maple and flame maple.

Birdseye maple is usually found in sugar maples. It is a phenomenon that occurs and no one actually knows why. The wood has a distinctive pattern that looks like tiny swirling bird’s eyes. The dried wood of the maple can also be used for smoking food. The sugar maple is the best for tapping for maple syrup.  Sugar maples amazingly have a lifespan of about 300 years.

Maple is also called, tonewood. Its wood carries sound waves quite well, and therefore it is used to make numerous musical instruments. The other tonewood is mahogany, but maple is harder and has a brighter sound. Most commercially made drums are made from maple. Electric guitar necks are mostly made from maple. The tops of Gibson and Les Paul guitars are made from carved maple. Les Paul guitars mainly use quilted or flame maple tops. Very few guitars are made of all maple, as they would be too heavy. Many guitars, however, will have maple tops or veneers.

In early spring, the maple tree’s pollen is a very important food necessary for the survival of honeybees. Many parasitic insects use the leaves for depositing their eggs. It’s amazing how much just one tree can provide for the occupants of Mother Earth. What is even more amazing is that as much as we know today, there is still so much more to know. I would like to know what does cause the Birdseye maple to form - any ideas?