Botanical name: Gyrocarpus americanus    Family: Hernandiaceae (Hernandia family)
Synonyms: Gyrocarpus asiaticus

Helicopter Tree is a slender, deciduous tree, with smooth, grey bark, often bleaching to a silvery-white on the sunny side. Leaves are spirally arranged, crowded near the ends of branches, up to 15 × 12 cm. Leaves are ovate, often more or less deeply 3-lobed, dark green above, paler greyish below, finely velvety on both surfaces, markedly 3-veined from the base. Veins are yellowish; stalk up to 9 cm long. Flowers arise in compact heads, yellowish-green, with an unpleasant smell. Fruit a woody nut with 2 long thin wings, aiding wind dispersal. It is this winged, flying nut that gave the tree its various common names. Helicopter tree is native to India, Tropical regions of America, Asia, Africa and Australia.

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The flower labeled Helicopter Tree is ...