Are maple seeds edible? Paulownia flowers attract early bees
Silver maple 'helicopter' seeds (samaras) spin through the air, prompting questions about their edibility, while invasive Chinese paulownia trees produce lavender‑purple, vanilla‑scented tubular blooms that germinate easily and draw early bees.
This past Monday it was windy and as I sat on the deck in early evening maple seeds from a nearby silver maple tree were being blown all around me. These seeds are winged and their proper name is samaras, although they’re also called helicopter seeds because of the way they twist around in the wind.