Maple seed helicopters

[Rangdale]

Just curious to see if others are noticing a huge increase in those maple "helicopter" seeds this year? In the 15 years I've been living in my current house (in Maine) we've never seen anything like it. They are over an inch deep on our driveway and lawn. Blow them back into the woods and two days later it's covered again. It's probably just some cyclical thing and means nothing but just thought it interesting. If 1% of 1% grew into trees we'd have 10,000 trees to tap in 30 years.

[GeneralStark]

Just curious to see if others are noticing a huge increase in those maple "helicopter" seeds this year? In the 15 years I've been living in my current house (in Maine) we've never seen anything like it. They are over an inch deep on our driveway and lawn. Blow them back into the woods and two days later it's covered again. It's probably just some cyclical thing and means nothing but just thought it interesting. If 1% of 1% grew into trees we'd have 10,000 trees to tap in 30 years.

We had a pretty good crop of red maple seeds this spring and the chipmunks and squirrels have been going nuts over them. Trees and other plants typically have bumper crops of seeds every few years (mast years), so perhaps your trees got to a certain age where they are now really producing more than ever.

[BreezyHill]

We have had a low year but we have been dry since the middle of April. We just got ran in the last few days. Usually the lilacs have loads of seeds and the seed count is a few per flower bunch.

I am more concerned over how dry the ground is now...it was like the Middle of August than the beginning of June. The dirt around our maples in the front yard is powder this past weekend when we planted more bulbs. It would run thru your fingers like water. We got an inch of rain and it only went down 2.5".

[Wanabe1972]

We had a pretty good crop of red maple seeds this spring and the chipmunks and squirrels have been going nuts over them. Trees and other plants typically have bumper crops of seeds every few years (mast years), so perhaps your trees got to a certain age where they are now really producing more than ever.
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I also noticed a huge amount of seeds this year the most i think I've seen in 19 years of living in this house.

[Cedar Eater]

We're getting quite a few, but not on every large red maple. Some have none, but plenty of leaves.

[tuckermtn]

also noticed our white Ash are loaded with seeds this year as well.

[220 maple]

Sugars have a heavy seed crop this year in my corner of WV, if research is correct? low sugar content sap next Spring. This Spring it required 42.98 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of syrup.

Mark 220 Maple

[Don m]

We had a silver maple on our back lawn that was loaded with seed "copters" (as the kids call them) like I have never seen before in the 16 years living in our house. The soft maples on the front lawn didn't have any.

[Rangdale]

Just learned today that you can eat them? Apparently they are quite good roasted. Never knew.

[NhShaun]

I also just found that out too, but actually eating them while visiting a friend. They were pretty tasty, but not very filling.