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Edelweiss, the most treasured flower of the Alps, grows in altitudes up to 2700 m/9,000 feet. In order to cope with the harsh environment and intense exposure to sunlight, the plant has developed several protection mechanisms, which our skin can benefit from when we apply a cream with Edelweiss extract: moisture retention, powerful anti-oxidants and its ability to absorb UV radiation.
Take, dear Lady, take these flowers
Children born of sun and showers.
Summer sun and winter snow
Crushed the rock on which they grow;
Strength of immemorial chalk
Fed the fibers of their stalk;
Lightning, hurricane and storm
Shaped their pliancy of form,
Gleam and gloom of varying sway
Stained the petals ashen gray.
Which, like loving hearts, enfold
In their midst one spot of gold.
Fearless head and steady foot
Tracked the cradle of their root.
Now a link in friendship's chain
From the mountain to the main.
Nurslings of the central sea,
Such as late I gave to thee,
Lull the senses, charm the eye,
Bloom and whither, breathe and die.
These, by sterner process made,
Slow engendered, slowly fade.
And they bring where'er they fare
Just a whiff of Alpine air.
Lady, take these simple flowers,
Emblem meet of sun and showers.
Oscar Browning,
Davos-Platz, August 1886
Illustration from Flora von Deutschland, �stereich und der Schweiz by Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thom�
Through the centuries the Edelweiss flower has enjoyed great popularity in all of Europe's Alpine regions with the result that already in 1878 it was threatened by extinction. In an International Conference Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Italy agreed to protect the flower. Until then it was a custom amongst young men to pick the flowers as a token of love for their sweetheart. Edelweiss was also used in teas and herb infusions for a variety of illnesses from bronchitis and vascular problems to tuberculosis and diphtheria.
In recent years, the high altitude and extreme exposure to draught and sunlight under which Edelweiss naturally thrives led researchers to investigate the protection mechanisms of the plant. The resulting research confirmed that Edelweiss extract contains very potent antioxidants and cell protection properties as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial qualities. Those extremely beneficial qualities led ATHANOR to make Edelweiss extract the primary and most important ingredient of this unique cosmetic line.
