The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Leontopodium nivale
Edelweiss is a woolly, silver-leaved perennial mountain flower of the daisy family, native to rocky limestone slopes in the Alps and nearby ranges. It is short-lived and grows best in cool, sunny, well-drained conditions.
Leontopodium nivale, commonly called edelweiss (lit. 'noble white') (English: AY-dəl-vyss; German: Edelweiß [ˈeːdl̩vaɪs] or Alpen-Edelweiß), is a mountain flower belonging to the daisy or sunflower family Asteraceae. The plant prefers rocky limestone places at about 1,800–3,400 metres (5,900–11,200 ft) altitude. It is a non-toxic plant. Its leaves and flowers are covered with dense hairs, which appear to protect the plant from cold, aridity, and ultraviolet radiation. The filamentary wool (tomentum) has sub-micrometer internal structure that contributes to scattering and absorption of near-ultraviolet radiation, which is interpreted as an adaptive trait for high-altitude UV exposure. It is a scarce, short-lived flower found in remote mountain areas and has been used as a symbol for alpinism, for rugged beauty and purity associated with the Alps and Carpathians.
Leontopodium nivale is grown in gardens for its interesting inflorescence and silver foliage. It grows in the end of May The plants are short lived and can be grown from seed.
Leontopodium nivale prefers rocky limestone locations in the Alps, Pyrenees Mountains, and the Italian Apennines at about 1,800–3,400 metres (5,900–11,200 ft) altitude.
A Swiss company markets a water-soluble isotonic drink containing edelweiss extract, vitamins, and minerals. The company presents it as the world's first water-soluble revitalizing isotonic drink of its kind and describes edelweiss as having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Edelweiss is also used in anti-aging skincare products, including the siin “Edition Edelweiss” product line.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Edelweiss by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
