The Edelweiss, better known as snow flower, is a plant of the Asteraceae family. It is a flower that grows in small groups in the alpine meadows and high rocky areas of the European mountain ranges. They are no more than 10 cm tall, with thick, fleshy bracts covered with fine fuzz. Its color is white with greenish or yellowish tones.

The scientific name for Edelweiss is Leontopodium alpinum. It is the national flower of Austria, which is why it is on its 2 euro cent coin. This flower is characterized by being cultivated in the heights and for this reason it has been largely depleted. It has already disappeared from many areas, so it has been protected in Spanish territory, its collection being prohibited, as it is in danger of extinction.

Next we will narrate the legend of Edelweiss.

They say that a handsome young man was in love with a woman, of a beauty comparable to that of the purity of the snow that covers the high mountains, with white hair, grayish eyes and fine and soft features… an extremely beautiful albino named Edelweiss.
One day the handsome young man took it from her hands and hesitantly declared:

– I couldn’t take any longer, my love, to confess what I feel for you. I suffer day and night from pain inside, every moment I close my eyes, that not even a storm could take a single iota of my affection. Not even all the snow in the high mountains would be able to put out the fire that makes my heart beat. I come to tell you my beautiful Edelweiss, that I love you with all my being.
Surprised but flattered, she took her hands away from her, ran her face silently, and with a tender smile of hers she spoke to him:

– My beloved, I am overwhelmed before your beautiful words with the sweet message with which you proclaim them. But don’t you think that a declaration of love must be accompanied by a great deed?
He opened his eyes in a daze, and firmly captured her again in his hands, while he said convinced, tells the legend of edelweiss:

– Beautiful Edelweiss, what do you want? Because I assure you that I will get everything you want, if that is how I can show you the love that I profess for you.
– My love, I take you at your word. This is the time for you to run away, because the challenge that I have come to propose is not within the reach of fearful or cowardly… Legend has it that a star came to earth, becoming the most beautiful flower that lives where ice and snow sculpt the high mountains. If it’s true that you die for me, you would go there to look for that flower… and I’ll tell you, that if you didn’t get it, you wouldn’t get my love either.

The young man paled before such an affront, his cheeks flushed and, clenching his fists, he swore:
–

For your love Edelweiss, I will bring that flower. And she left with a firm walk.
They say many, many days passed and the handsome young man never returned. They also say that, although she laughed every morning, when the stars covered her firmament, when no one saw her, she cried for her, and prayed that he would come back to her.
She ended up losing her mind. Without leaving the house she sobbed bitterly every night, while she contemplated the high mountains.
Her sorrow ended one of those cold and long winter nights, in which, according to generation after generation of local residents, she went out to the mountains, totally naked, to look for him, shouting his name until her voice broke, and she never found herself again. he saw her again.
Since then, in her honor, the snow flower is called Edelweiss and is a symbol of true and eternal love, like that of the two young people who died wrapped in snow.

With this sad love story ends this legend. If you liked it, share it on your social networks with your friends. If you liked these flowers and want to plant them, here is a link to their seeds.

There are several ornaments that might also interest you, since it is very difficult to grow this plant and it needs special requirements and care.