edelweiss - Symbolic uses, Sources

A perennial (Leontopodium alpinum) growing to 20 cm/8 in, native to the mountains of SE Europe; leaves narrowly lance- or spoon-shaped, with a dense covering of white woolly hairs pressed flat against the surface; flower-heads yellowish-white, arranged in a flat-topped cluster surrounded by pointed, spreading, star-like, woolly bracts. It is a well-known alpine plant with romantic associations, protected by law in many districts. (Family: Compositae.)

?Edelweiss
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Leontopodium Species: L. alpinum
Binomial name
Leontopodium alpinum Cass., 1822

Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) is one of the best known European mountain flowers.

Flowering stalks of edelweiss can grow to a size of 3-20 cm (in cultivation, up to 40 cm).

Edelweiss is a protected plant in many countries, including Bulgaria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Slovakia (Tatra National Park), Slovenia (since 1898), Austria (since 1886) and Romania (since 1933).

Symbolic uses

On the Austrian euro coins, a picture of Edelweiss is used on the two euro cent coins. Edelweiss Air, an international airline based in Switzerland, is named after the flower, which also appears in its logo. Edelweiss was a badge of Edelweiss Pirates (Edelweisspiraten) -- the anti-nazi youth groups in Third Reich.

habit

close-up of the flower heads

illustration

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leontopodium alpinum

Sources

[7] Chiej.