HERBARIUMALPINUM / SWITZERLAND
BOTANICAL ARCHIVEA small alpine perennial.
Preserved with its place of origin.
Exposed limestone ledge.
Subalpine to alpine grassland.
Rooted in thin, calcareous soil. The white, felted bracts surround a cluster of small flower heads.
2,480METRESWhat looks like a flower is a gathering of smaller things.
The pressed specimen.
Lifted from the sheet.
The white star is made of bracts.
Bracts outside. Flower heads within.
The showy, woolly bracts surround the flower heads. Their dense covering of hairs gives Edelweiss its familiar white appearance.
A botanical name places a specimen among its relatives. Each word has a role.
The historic name on this folio is Leontopodium alpinum Cass. Kew’s current treatment accepts Leontopodium nivale subsp. alpinum (Cass.) Greuter. Both names refer to the alpine Edelweiss represented here.
NOMENCLATURE REFERENCE / KEW, PLANTS OF THE WORLD ONLINE