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SNOWFLAKES - ICE CRYSTALS
Not every snowflake is a perfect hexagonal crystal. A lot can happen to a snowflake on its way to Earth's surface. Many flakes collide and break or even fuse together to form larger malformed flakes. Snowflakes can also partially melt to produce irregular forms. The following images of snowflakes were obtained in Oswego, New York on November 25 during a lake effects flurry. Fortunately the wind was light and many of the snowflakes managed to make it to the ground in good shape. Armed with only my digital camera I was able to capture a number of the crystals. The background used was a black cotton cloth. (I know that there are much better ways to photograph snowflakes and maybe I will have the equipment next time.)
A
typical snowflake is actually a twinned crystal, think of it as three, long
crystals meeting at 60 degree angles at their centers. Single snowflakes
like this one are referred to as snow crystals.
. 
This is
one "snowflake" that landed on the cloth. Obviously "snowflakes"
can be the result of single crystals merging.
The following snowflakes and crystals are expandable thumbnails.
For more information about snowflakes, check out this web site from Cal Tech.