Edelweiss is a flower that grows in the highlands. Precisely because it is found only high in the mountains, where a human foot rarely sets foot, many beautiful legends and stories have been written about it.
The botanical name of this flower is Leontopodium, it comes from the merger of two Greek words - “lion” (leon) and “foot” (opodion). That is, the literal translation is a lion's paw, which edelweiss really looks like. The flower has many more names: for example, the French call it the “Alpine star”, the Italians call it the “silver flower of the rocks”, you can still hear the names “mountain star”, “Prometheus flower” or “Princess of the Alps”. In general, people have not been stingy and have collected the most beautiful poetic images to describe edelweiss.
But what about the Russian name? However, it can be called Russian only conditionally, because edelweiss is a German word that means “noble white.”
What does edelweiss look like?
The flower, the photo of which is given in this article, most of all resembles tiny stars, which are showered on the mountain slopes of the Carpathians and the Alps during the flowering period. The plant has narrow leaves with a hairy underside.surface, they are collected in a dense basal rosette. The color of the leaves is interesting - it can vary from gray-green to silver. In summer, a fairly tall leafy stem about 25 cm tall grows from the outlet. Later, beautiful white flowers bloom on it, like small stars, covered with delicate white fur.
Edelweiss flowers: stories and legends
Since ancient times, this plant has been called a symbol of love, longevity and happiness. Men, in order to achieve the favorable attitude of their lady of the heart, went to the mountains to find one single edelweiss. The flower, found with such difficulty, was then handed to the beloved girl as proof that the man was ready to go around the mountains for her, and in the truest sense of the word.
However, this situation is more of a poetic image than reality. Edelweiss during the flowering period are quite often found on the slopes of the mountains, so the mythical lover did not have to look for a flower for a long time, but just had to wait for the right time. At least that was the case until recently, when tourists, attracted by these very legends, began to collect armfuls of edelweiss. Therefore, at present, these plants are listed in the Red Book of Russia.
In addition, the legends about the appearance of edelweiss are interesting. According to one of them, the plant appeared from the body of a woman who found her husband lifeless in the mountains and decided to die with him, according to another, he appeared from the tears of a beautiful fairy who fell in love with a young man, but could not descend frommountains There are dozens of similar legends, but each of them always has a love story with a tragic ending.
What else can you say about edelweiss? This flower is not only very beautiful, but also unusually useful. As scientists have proven, it contains a lot of antioxidants, which are considered the best substance for maintaining youthful skin. And now this plant is used for the manufacture of cosmetics. It should be noted that for these purposes, edelweiss is grown, not harvested, because in the wild they are becoming less and less…
