Leontopodium alpinum
Edelweiss
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Compositae
- Genus
- Leontopodium
- Life cycle
- perennial
- Height
- 0.2 m
- Flower type
- monoecious
Uses
Medicinal uses
Historical medicinal uses. These records describe reported uses. They do not establish safety or effectiveness. Ask a qualified health professional before using any plant medicinally.
The whole plant is astringent and antitussive[2].
Environment
- Range
- SE and SC Europe.
- Habitat
- Alpine meadows and screes.
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- light shade
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- Zone 4+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the cold greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division.
Cultivation
Requires a position in full sun in any gritty perfectly drained not too fertile circumneutral or slightly alkaline soil[1]. Given a well-drained soil and protection from winter wet, this is one of the easier alpine plants to grow[1]. The plant has been avidly collected from the wild in the past for its ornamental use as a dried flower - this has caused it to become rare in the wild and it is now a protected species[2].
References
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984-00-00 ISBN 0-356-10541-5