Edelweiss - a flower of the highlands

Edelweiss is a flower that grows in the highlands. Precisely because it meets only high in the mountains, where the human foot rarely steps, many beautiful legends and stories have written about it.

The botanical name of this flower is Leontopodium, it originated from the fusion of two Greek words - "leon" (leon) and "paw" (opodion). That is, the literal translation is the lion's paw, which actually looks like an edelweiss. The flower has many more names: for example, the French call it "alpine star", Italians - "silver flower of rocks", you can still hear the names "mountain star", "Prometheus flower" or "Princess Alps". In general, people did not stint and collected the most beautiful poetic images to describe the edelweiss.

And what about the Russian name? However, Russian can only be called conditionally, because Edelweiss is a German word that denotes "noble white."

What does the edelweiss look like?

The flower, the photo of which is given in this article, most resembles the tiny stars, which during the flowering period are strewn with mountain slopes of the Carpathians and the Alps. The plant has narrow leaves with a shaggy underside, they are collected in a thick basal rosette. The color of the leaves is interesting - it can vary from gray-green to silvery. In the summer period, a rather high leaf stalk about 25 cm high grows from the rosette. Later on it blossomed beautiful white flowers, like small stars, covered with delicate white fur.

Edelweiss flowers: stories and legends

From the earliest times this plant was called the symbol of love, longevity and happiness. Men, in order to achieve the benevolent attitude of their ladies heart, went to the mountains to find a single edelweiss. The flower, found with such difficulty, was then given to the beloved girl as proof that the man for her sake is ready to circumvent the mountains, and in the most direct sense of the word.

However, this situation is rather a poetic image than reality. Edelweiss in the flowering period is often found on the slopes of the mountains, so that the mythical lover did not have to search for a flower for a long time, but it was just necessary to wait for the right time. At least it was until recently, while tourists, attracted by these very legends, did not begin to collect edelweiss with arms. Therefore, at present these plants are listed in the Red Book of Russia.

In addition, there are interesting legends about the appearance of edelweiss. 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, on the other - he appeared from the tears of a beautiful fairy who fell in love with a young man, but could not come down from the mountains. There are dozens of similar legends, but in each there is always a love story with a tragic outcome.

What else can you say about Edelweiss? This flower is not only very beautiful, but also unusually useful. As scientists have proved, it contains many antioxidants, which are considered the best substance for preserving the youthfulness of the skin. And now this plant is used for the manufacture of cosmetics. It should be noted that for these purposes edelweisses are grown, not harvested, because in the wild they are becoming less ...