--- title: Google Doodle Celebrates the Alpine Edelweiss Flower description: German artist Rita Fürstenau has created a cross-stitch-style Google Doodle to celebrate the edelweiss, the most romantic of Alpine blooms canonical: https://time.com/5185145/google-doodle-edelweiss-flower/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-05T06:26:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:04.895Z og:title: A Few Things to Know About the Alpine Edelweiss Flower og:description: It was discovered on this day in 1784 og:url: https://time.com/5185145/google-doodle-edelweiss-flower/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35a224151b3af466/698929934ee262483131114c/celebrating-the-edelweiss-flower-5309361642536960-2x-2.png?branch=production&width=818&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 818 og:image:height: 460 og:image:alt: celebrating-the-edelweiss-flower-5309361642536960-2x 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Few Things to Know About the Alpine Edelweiss Flower twitter:description: It was discovered on this day in 1784 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35a224151b3af466/698929934ee262483131114c/celebrating-the-edelweiss-flower-5309361642536960-2x-2.png?branch=production&width=818&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Edelweiss Flower Was Discovered on This Day. Here's What You Should Know About Its Alpine Legacy by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Mar 5, 2018 6:26 AM UTC  Google Doodle celebrating the edelweiss flower Google Doodle celebrating the edelweiss flowerGoogle Doodle by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Mar 5, 2018 6:26 AM UTC German artist Rita Fürstenau has created a cross-stitch-style Google Doodle to celebrate the edelweiss_,_ the most romantic of Alpine blooms. The common name for _Leontopodium nivale,_ which means lion’s foot, the word _edelweiss_ was first discovered in writing on March 5, 1784\. Derived from the German for “noble” and “white,” the downy flower has become a mainstay of Alpine folklore, whose tales often feature heroes journeying to the mountains to pluck the flower as a token for their beloved. So deeply is it associated with love and fidelity that giving one as a gift was once considered equivalent to giving an engagement ring, according to Google. The edelweiss is also synonymous with the Alps and the summer; it appears on the Austrian two Euro cent coin, is the brand name of a beer, and is painted on planes operated by a Swiss airline. [According](https://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-the-edelweiss-flower) to Google, the edelweiss was once on the brink of extinction but is now abundant across Europe. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5185145/google-doodle-edelweiss-flower/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5185145/google-doodle-edelweiss-flower/"},"headline":"The Edelweiss Flower Was Discovered on This Day. 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