EDELWEISS  , known botanically as Leontopodium alpinum, a member of the

family Compositae, a native of the Alps of Central Europe . It is a small herb reaching about 6 in. high, with narrow white woolly leaves, and terminal flower-heads enveloped in woolly bracts . The woolly covering enables the plant to thrive in the exposed situations in which it is found, by protecting it from cold and from drying up through excessive loss of moisture . It is grown in Britain as a rock-plant .