a small alpine flowering plant, Leontopodium alpinum, having white woolly oblong leaves and a tuft of attractive floral leaves surrounding the flowers: family Asteraceae (composites)
Word origin
C19: German, literally: noble white
edelweiss in American English
(ˈeɪdəlˌvaɪs; ˈeɪdəlˌvaɪs)
noun
a small, flowering plant (Leontopodium alpinum) of the composite family, native to the high mountains of Europe and central Asia, esp. the Alps, with leaves and petal-like bracts that are white and woolly