Figure 1
Water droplet encapsulation by an open flexible dandelion pappi system. (a) The white fluff ball formed after dandelion seed maturity. (b) Many water droplets are held by the dandelion pappi in all directions after it rains, even for seeds with downward-oriented pappi, as indicated by arrows. (c) A relatively large water droplet was encapsulated by the pappi through the dip-withdrawal process. The pappi gradually approached the water interface (c1) and made a dimple (c2) when pressed into the water, while a water column (c3) was adhered to the pappi and encapsulated into a large water droplet (c4). The weight of the water droplet was ∼96 times the weight of the pappi.
