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 wooly leaves, and terminal flower-heads enveloped in wooly bracts. The wooly 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.