A flower “for the sake of tradition” Edelweiss in the Ossaue Valley (Atlantic Pyrenees) On the 25th August 2005, appearing on the front page of the daily newspaper Le Monde was an article entitled “Traditional poaching of edelweiss in the Pyrenees”. The author incriminated the youth of the Ossaue Valley, suspected of going to pick armfuls of edelweiss in the central zone of the Pyrenees National Park, where it is strictly prohibited to touch the flower. Among other things the journalist suggested that edelweiss was an endangered species and affirmed that these harvests had a purely “mercantile” destiny. This article incited a lively response in the valley. Accused of putting the existence of edelweiss in peril, the people of Ossaue responded by developing an argument whose terms and the stakes are examined in this article. In particular two of the arguments invoked to legitimise the gathering of edelweiss are examined: the innocuousness of the activity – said to contribute to the preservation of the species –, and its traditional character.