Botanical name: Leontopodium pusillum    Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)
Synonyms: Leontopodium evax, Leontopodium alpinum var. pusillum

Small Edelweiss is a small clustered to prostrate herb, with stems 1 to many, 1-3 cm long; runners thread-like, bearing remote scales. Leaves are spoon-shaped, usually covered with white tomentum, 7-9 x 2-4 mm. Flower-heads are 1-3, heterogamous, about 9 mm in diameter. Inflorescence bracts are prominent, spoon-shaped or linear spoon-shaped, broader than the stem leaves, white woolly. Female florets are about 3.5 mm long, bisexual florets slightly smaller, about 3 mm long. Cypselas about 1.25 mm long, hairless, pappus setae white, fused. Small Edelweiss is found in alpine grasslands, rocky screes, gravelly slopes, salt lake banks and shores, at altitudes of 3500-5600 m, in the Himalayas to China. Flowering: July-August.

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The flower labeled Small Edelweiss is ...