Early snowstorm in autumn with sunlight through the leaves. An early snowfall blankets the ground with snow while the bright red fall leaves and whirligig seedpods of a Japanese maple tree Acer palmatum are still on the tree. The sun gives some of the map

Early snowstorm in autumn with sunlight through the leaves. An early snowfall blankets the ground with snow while the bright red fall leaves and whirligig seedpods of a Japanese maple tree Acer palmatum are still on the tree. The sun gives some of the maple leaves a golden yellow or orange hue. Chappaqua, Westchester County, NY, USA. We always called the seed pods whirligigs as kids growing up in New York, but when I looked online to find out the technical term for the fruit of the maple, it's samara, but around the US they are known as wingnuts, helicopters, whirlibirds and in the UK, spinning jennies, all in recognition of how their whirling motion as they drop from the tree lets them wind spin them far from the parent tree.