The Edelweiss Flower

Its scientific name, Leontopodium alpinum, comes from Greek and means "lion foot of the Alps'. Living in isolated and inaccessible areas, between 2,000 and 3,000 meters. It blooms between July and September and the leaves can be white, gray or slightly yellowish.

For centuries it has seen this flower as the ultimate symbol of love that could prove to the woman he loved. Youth Central European real undertook expeditions to get one of prized as trophies. Many died in the attempt, threw himself from cliffs or surprised by the changing weather in the Alps.

The edelweiss gained enormous popularity in the mid-nineteenth century, largely thanks to the Empress Sisi, as it was his favorite flower. The situation became alarming when the edelweiss disappeared from the roads and trails more accessible. Then, in 1878, when an international conference of Alpine clubs encouraged the governments of Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Italy to classify the edelweiss as a protected species.

The edelweiss remains today a symbol of purity of the environment, and see one in the wild is difficult. Also, if you are tempted to take you a home, think twice, to be a protected species, the joke can get expensive.