A snowflake is an ice crystal or an aggregate of ice crystals grown in atmospheric conditions. Its morphology depends on vapour supersaturation, transport, temperature and crystal anisotropy. Not every snowflake is dendritic.
An exposed tip receives vapour more efficiently than a sheltered surface and can amplify its lead, producing crystal dendrites and side branches. The planar thermal solidification mechanism is an analogy, not a complete vapour-growth model. The hexagonal ice crystal anisotropy selects six preferred directions; an isotropic linear instability alone does not select six arms.
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