The Edelweiss flower ~ Leontopodium aplinium is a European mountain flower that has become one of the worlds best known blossoms.  The name means 'noblewhite' and derives from German edel - noble and weiss - white, whilst the scientific name means 'Lions paw of the Alpine'. Whether this implies that you need the strength of a lion to retrieve one or that it resembles a lions paw in someway has never been made clear. The Edelweiss leaves and petals have a compacted covering of fine brilliant white hairs and gives the appearance of being soft and woolly and has a velvet texture to the touch.  It has been assessed that these fine compact hairs protect the flower from extreme low temperatures as found in the alpine regions and thus it can survive the harshest of winters. These rather small and delicate flowers grow on stalks that can reach 20 centimeters in nature but when cultivated can grow to 40 centimetres.  The blossom of the Edelweiss consists of a central single yellow flower surrounded by 5 to 6 smaller yellow flower heads.  These are surrounded by small pointed white leafs that create an attractive and distinctive star pattern.  The Edelweiss blooms into this full blossom in the months of July, August  and September. The flower is often found at  very high altitudes of 1700 to 2700 meters and grows in  small gaps between rocky crags on the cliff face.  During World War II German soldiers of the Gebirgsjäger Infantry Alpine Divisions used to climb the mountains to collect an Edelweiss flower so that they could wear it on their uniforms.  It was a deemed a symbol of bravery as it was often very treacherous to climb up the mountain to retrieve one and many lost their lives in doing so. Established 1907 by the Austrian-Hungarian Army for their alpine troops, the Edelweiss inherently became a symbol of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS Alpine divisions in WWII and was made into a metal badge to be worn on the left side of their mountain caps as seen below on this Gefreiter.      There was also an Edelweiss patch that was sewn onto their uniforms on the right sleeve and one could also be sewn onto their caps instead of the metal version, these patches which are the SS type are seen below.           Even today the Edelweiss is still symbolised in this way by the modern German Army. Edelweiss is a national emblem for Austria.   It is not indigenous to any other place in the world and captures a folk music style and a feeling of nationalism to most Austrians and indeed many people think that the song "Edelweiss" is an actual Austrian folk song or that it is even the National Anthem of Austria.  The song however was created for the film The Sound of Music by Rogers and Hammerstein and is not associated in any other way to Austria in this sense. Edelweiss is actually a protected species  and permission needs to be granted before a mountaineer can pick one from where they grow.  The countries that have issued a protection order on this plant are from Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Mongolia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Austria. Although not so rare, the Edelweiss has been observed growing in abundance on much lower planes of the alpine regions.  Protected though, they still are, as Edelweiss flowers are known as short lived perennials, meaning that after being picked during a number of growing seasons from the same base plant, they cannot propagate by seeding and will consequently disappear from an area where they may have grow quite festidiously. The Edelweiss is also utilized in medicine as a remedy against stomach and breathing disorders. You may read lots more about the Edelweiss by clicking on this link. www.edelweissgrowers.com

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