Columbines (Aquilegia) are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They have emerged from Central Asia approximately 6 million years ago and the columbines are among the original flowering plants and have therefore a relative simple “construction plan”. But what a great plan this is! The leaves of the columbine have similar to the lotus plant a very high water repellence. The so-called lotus effect refers to self-cleaning properties. Dirt particles are picked up by water droplets due to the micro- and nanoscopic architecture on the surface, which minimizes the droplet's adhesion to that surface. Some “modern” nanotechnologists copied this since millions of year’s effective effect and have developed self-cleaning paints, windows, roof tiles, fabrics and other surfaces.
I do love your work, Mona. Beautiful light and comp here, fav. I love the structure of these flowers. And I love the lotus effect for photography. It's also called superhydrophobicity (lovely name with lots of syllables! :) ), and you also find it with nasturtiums and alchemilla, among other plants.