Leontopodium alpinum

This plant, which is white-tomentose in every part because it is covered in a thick down, has linear-lanceolate shaped basal and cauline leaves; the inflorescence is formed by numerous heads of only tubular flowers, united in glomerules surrounded at the base by 5-15 bract leaves arranged in a star shape, hence the plant’s common name. The name of the genus comes from the Greek "lèon" which means lion and "podium" which means small foot, a reference to the shape of the inflorescences which recall a lion's pawprint. The species epithet refers to the environment it grows in. The edelweiss has always been the symbol of mountains and mountaineering, but has been picked indiscriminately for years and in some parts of the Alps is considered an endangered species, so much so that in Switzerland it has been protected since 1878.