Why wafer ash is called wafer ash

Wafer ash is called wafer ash because of its samaras. A samara is a winged fruit, and the small (0.75–1 inch, 18–25 mm), mostly flat ones of Ptelea trifoliata must have looked to people like little wafers. They still do.

I made this close view of a backlit wafer ash samara in Balcones District Park on January 3, 2012.

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman