Names
The common name is from the German, in standard spelling Edelweiß (with the Eszett (ß) ligature), literally translating to "noble-white", a compound of the adjectives edel "noble" and weiß (or weiss) "white". As an adjective, edelweiss is also used in oenology of wine from the Gutedel (Chasselas) grape.
The name Edelweiss originates as one of numerous regional appellations, and entered wide use during the first half of the 19th century, in the context of early Alpine tourism and the exploration of the High Alps. Alternative regional Swiss German names of the flower include Chatzen-Talpen ("cat's paws"), and older wullbluomen ("wool-flower", attested in the 16th century).
The scientific name Leontopodium is a Latin adaptation of Greek leontopódion (λεοντοπόδιον) "lion's paw". The first scientific name for Leontopodium alpinum which was validly published according to the current binomial nomenclature is Gnaphalium alpinum in the first edition (1753) of Linnaeus's Species Plantarum.
Since 1822 (Cassini) Leontopodium is not anymore considered part of the Gnaphalium genus, but classified alongside it as a distinct genus within the Gnaphalieae tribe. Leontopodium alpinum in 2003 was re-classified as a subspecies of Leontopodium nivale. Thus, the alpine Edelweiss is currently recognized as being divided into two supspecies, Leontopodium nivale subsp. alpinum (Cass.) Greuter and Leontopodium nivale subsp. nivale.
Read more about this topic: Leontopodium Alpinum
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“The instincts of merry England lingered on here with exceptional vitality, and the symbolic customs which tradition has attached to each season of the year were yet a reality on Egdon. Indeed, the impulses of all such outlandish hamlets are pagan still: in these spots homage to nature, self-adoration, frantic gaieties, fragments of Teutonic rites to divinities whose names are forgotten, seem in some way or other to have survived mediaeval doctrine.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“I come to this land to ride my horse,
to try my own guitar, to copy out
their two separate names like sunflowers, to conjure
up my daily bread, to endure,
somehow to endure.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“To you, more than to any others, the privilege is given, to assure that happiness [of saving the Union], and swell that grandeur, and to link your own names therewith forever.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)