Plant biology:

Of all the Edelweiss (Edelweiß) varieties

and those close relatives in the North
American Antennaria family,Leontopodiu
m alpinum is the most beautiful and
sought after in the World.

Leontopodium or Lions foot, is originally a

plant of the Steppe of Asia. Found there in
more than 30 forms, it is well adapted to
climatic extremes. Its deep fibrous roots
and the felt like covering of its leaves
protect it from drought, the ravages of
winds and the potentially damaging sun
shine.

The alpine Edelweiß, which in the German

language means noble and white, is found
generally at altitudes from 1700 meters to
2700 meters.
Edelweiss prefers calcareous light soils
with excellent drainage and southern
exposure, where it likes to form herbal
mats, growing from 8 cm to 20 cm tall.

Edelweiss flowers are classified as short

lived perennials, which after being picked
during a number of growing seasons from
the same plant, are unable to propagate
by seeding and will disappear from an
formerly established area

Encyclopedia
"Edelweiss" is a show tune from
the 1959 Rodgers and
Hammerstein musical The Sound of
Music. It is named after
the edelweiss, a white flower found
high in the Alps. It is sung by
Captain Georg Ludwig von
Trapp and his family during the
concert near the end of Act II as a
defiant statement of Austrian
patriotism in the face of the
pressure put upon him to join the
navy of Nazi Germany. In the 1965
film adaptation, the song is also
sung by the Captain earlier in the
film as he rediscovers music and a
love for his children.

Writing of the song

While The Sound of Music was in
tryouts in Boston, Richard
Rodgers felt Captain von Trapp
should have a song with which he
would bid farewell to the Austria he
knew and loved. He and Oscar
Hammerstein II decided to write an
extra song that Captain von Trapp
would sing in the Kaltzberg
Festival (Salzburg Festival in the
film) concert sequence towards the
end of the show. As they were
writing it, they felt that this song
could also utilise the guitar-playing
and folk-singing talents of Theodore
Bikel, who created the role of
Captain von Trapp on Broadway.
The Lindsay and Crouse script
provides a metaphor of the
edelweiss flower, as a symbol of the
Austria that Captain von Trapp,
Maria and their children knew would
live on in their hearts despite the
Nazi annexation of their homeland.
As such, the metaphor of this song
builds on an earlier scene when
Gretl presents a bouquet of
edelweiss flowers to Elsa
Schraeder during her visit to the von
Trapp household. Rodgers provided
a haunting waltz-time melody to the
simple lyric that Hammerstein wrote
about the appearance of the
edelweiss flower. This song turned
out to be one of the most beloved
songs in the musical, and also one
of the best-loved songs of Rodgers
and Hammerstein.

This song was the last song that

Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote
together; Hammerstein was
suffering from stomach cancer,
which would take his life nine
months after The Sound of
Music opened on Broadway.

Film adaptation
Although the stage production uses
the song only during the concert
sequence, Ernest Lehman's
screenplay for the film
adaptation uses the song twice.
Lehman created a scene that
makes extra use of the song. This
scene, inspired by a line in the
original script by Howard
Lindsay and Russel Crouse, calls
for Captain von Trapp to sing this
song with his children in their family
drawing room and rediscover the
love he felt for them. Lehman also
expanded the scope of the song
when it was sung in the Salzburg
Festival concert scene so that
Captain von Trapp and his family
would call the crowds to join in the
song with him, in defiance of the
Nazi soldiers posted around the
arena. It is interesting to note that
one of the Nazi commandants is
shown singing in a baritone,
revealing that he cares more for
Austria than the Reich.

Misconceptions about
the song
The great popularity of the song has
led many of its audience to believe
that it is an Austrian folk song or
even the officialnational anthem. In
actuality, Austria's official anthem is
"Land der Berge, Land am Strome",
and the anthem used before
theAnschluss was "Sei gesegnet
ohne Ende". The edelweiss is a
popular flower in Austria, and was
featured on the old 1 Schilling coin.
It can also now be seen on the 2
cent Euro coin. It is, however, a
protected flower in Austria and
therefore illegal to pick. An
"edelweiss" is also worn as a cap
device by certain Austrian Army and
all German Gebirgsjäger (Mountain
Troopers, literal translation
Mountain Hunters) Units.