California Poppy

California Poppy, originally uploaded by wooac.

Unless you look very closely on a California Poppy, you might not notice the ridges on the petals. The ridges are the reason the water droplets are arranged in neat rows. The distribution of droplet sizes is a little more difficult to understand. One expects the less vertical surfaces to hold larger droplets but it also appears that the edges of the petals can hold larger droplets than the interior. Perhaps the ridges are more pronounced at the edges.