Nasturtium

The flowering plant known as Nasturtium is strangely not in the family called Nasturtium, which can lead to confusion. The leaves are interesting in that they are superhydrophobic and almost flat. Most of its leaves sit at an angle on a thin stem. The video is a high speed film of a water droplet impacting a leaf; the drop pushes the leaf to the side and continues at a slight angle. This means that the leaves are not likely to be damaged by water drops falling on them. The superhydrophobicity of the nasturtium, like that of the cabbage and the columbine, is generated by wax towers (see the image on the right). A simple discussion of this can be found here.