Edelweiss – The Plant and The Song
Edelweiss? Sounds different I? I heard this word in a song from a famous movie The sound of Music.
The song really impressed me because of the lyric and the use of classical guitar in that song.
What’s really the word Edelweiss mean?
Edelweiss is a European mountain flower. The Edelweiss came from German edel (meaning noble) and weiß (meaning white). The botanical name for this plant is Leontopodium in Greek called leon (means lion) podion (meaning paw). The flower looks almost like a Lions paw.
The flower’s stalks grow to a size of 3-40 cm. It is found generally at altitudes from 1700 meters to 2700 meters. it is well adapted to climatic extremes. Due to its deep fibrous roots and the felt like covering of its leaves get protection from drought, ravages of winds and the potentially damaging sunshine.
Due to the covering of white hairs on the flower looks woolly white. In the center of the flower it contains 5 to 10 yellow flower heads of size 5cm, with a medium-sized leaflet to form a start structure. It blooms between July and September. It is unequally distributed and prefers rocky limestone places at 2000-2900 m altitude. It is not toxic, but has been used traditionally in folk medicine as a remedy against abdominal and respiratory diseases.
This plant is protected in some countries like Bulgaria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria and Romania.
After the description about the plant… Its time to see and listen the song from the movie The Sound of Music.
The lyric of the song is given below.
Edelweiss, edelweiss, every morning you greet me.
Small and white,
Clean and bright,
You look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow,
Bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, edelweiss, bless my homeland forever
Small and white,
Clean and bright,
You look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow,
Bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, edelweiss, bless my homeland forever
Some interesting facts…
- Edelweiss Air, an international airline based in Switzerland, is named after the flower, which also appears in its logo.
- On the Austrian euro coins, a picture of Edelweiss is used on the two euro cent coins.
- Edelweiss is a theme and song (”Edelweiss”) in the musical and movie The Sound of Music, which takes place in Austria.
- On the Romanian 50 Lei banknote.
- Edelweiss is the national flower of Switzerland and Austria.
- During the Second World War, German soldiers occasionally pinned edelweiss flowers to their uniforms. The flower was supposed to be the sign of a “true soldier” in the Wehrmacht as it grows only in rugged terrain, generally above the tree line.
- In Austria, on St. Valentine’s Day, it is traditional for a man to present a woman with a bunch of edelweiss, the implication being that he has risked his life climbing up to where the flowers grow. In fact, a GM version is grown commercially at lower altitudes.
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what a wonderful song …and its from my most favorite movie too..thanks for sharing this info Raj..
Rajendra…
Nice flower…
Lovely song…
I heard it few times..
but after you presented the lyrics..it makes more sense….
Thanks_______Balaji
Alpine perennial plant native to Europe having leaves covered with whitish down and small flower heads held in stars of glistening whitish bracts
Thank for the clarification of the word ‘Edelweiss’. However, the lyrics of the song differs on another site. Your version says”Blossom of Snow may you bloom and grow”, while the Movie Corner says “Lonesome and slowly you bloom and grow, Bloom and Blow forever”. Which is correct?
Doreen: i think its â€Blossom of Snow may…” cos i can hear the song like that in the movie.
no matter what…. the song is still lovely and will bloom forever and ever…
My now deceased mother was born in Austria. We children all grew up here in the USA. My grandfather would send Edelweiss that he picked, dried, and pressed, in letters to us in the 50’s and 60’s. Because of that, it is a special flower to me. Although I have hiked a bit in the Austrian Alps, unfortunately, I never did find any except for some that someone had planted in a garden in the town my mom was born in. It was a treat seeing them alive and growing. By the way, those almost look like dried blueberries in the picture behind the Edelweiss. I did find lots of blueberries growing in the alps (short stunted bushes), and they were very tasty! I probably spent more time eating than looking for the flower…
Love the version of “Edelweiss” performed by Julie Andrews on her Classic Julie… Classic Broadway CD. Download from iTunes and you won’t be disappointed!
My eldest daughter’s name is Edelweiss.I love the song so much.
it’s “blossom of snow”, definitely. But I love this song, it’s just amazing.