Mixing ratios of molecular species in a horizontal slice through the photosphere in the AM3 model. Left: time dependent. Right: equilibrium. Molecular formation follows a reversed granulation pattern. The effect of finite chemical timescales is most prominent when contrasting warm and cool regions in CN and CH; CO is seen to be relatively close to CE, as confirmed by Fig. 3c at log τ = −4. The white contour traces a temperature of 4500 K.