“Bermuda In Bloom” Stamp Series Released

July 15, 2014

The Bermuda Philatelic Bureau of the Bermuda Post Office today announced the release of a series of five stamps: Bermuda In Bloom Part 1.

“Bermuda’s visitors and residents alike are sure to agree that the striking beauty and abundance of Bermuda’s floras make up a large part of the Island’s charm and tranquility. The Bermuda Post Office is proud to issue this first set, in a series of three, of five stamps in appreciation of Bermuda in Bloom,” a spokesperson said.

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“Our sub-tropical climate is perfect for many different species of plants and while Bermuda can boast only a few endemic plants of its own, quite a number are native, and many hundreds have been introduced deliberately and accidently from other countries. A variety of trees, shrubs and vines have been selected for this series, all of which can be seen in numerous private and public gardens, or along Bermuda’s roads and coast.

“The stamps are available in values of 0.05c, 0.10c, 0.25c, 0.35c, and $10.00. Official First Day covers with liner $12.00.”

YELLOW ALLAMANDA
5¢ Allamanda, Allamanda cathartica, is a popular ornamental vine grown worldwide for its showy flowers, and belongs to the Apocynaceae (dogbane) family. It can be seen throughout the island, draping over walls and growing up through trellises, and produced its large, faintly fragrant flowers in small clusters at the tips of the branches in the summer. Allamanda is probably native to northern South America and was introduced to Bermuda by 1871, and is named after Dr. Allamand, a Dutch professor of natural history. This plant is poisonous; icatharti is from the Greek, meaning cleansing, and refers to the plants ability to purge.

FRANGIPANI
10¢ Frangipani, Plumeria rubra, is grown as an ornamental tree throughout the Island, and belongs to the Apocynaceae (Dogbane) family. This small, deciduous Tree is the perfect size for many Bermuda gardens, providing beauty and fragrance, as well as welcome shade in the summer. With branches that look like thick fingers, Frangipani is least attractive when its large, oval leaves fall in the winter. New leaves appear in the early summer and are soon followed by waxy flowers held in large clusters at the branch tips. The flowers, which resemble pinwheels, remain throughout the summer. Frangipani is native to Mexico and Panama, and the name Plumier, a French botanist who died in 1704.

BOUGAINVILLEA
25¢ Bougainvillea belongs to the Nyctaginaceae (Four O’clock) family is a Woody, climbing vine grown throughout the Island as an ornamental plant that is often found climbing up old dead trees or over fences or walls colorful part of Bougainvillea that most people think are the flowers are, in fact, bracts, or modified leaves, that surround the long, narrow, inconspicuous and tubular flower. The flower is white at the very top and below, is the colour of the bract. It is these papery bracts that give Bougainville its other common name of paper flower. The flowers are borne in threes. Bougainvillea is a native to Brazil and is named after L.de Bougainville, a French navigator in the late 18th century.

CORAL TREE
35¢ The Coral Tree, Erythrina variegate, belong to the Leguminosae (Pea and Bean) family, and is native to the Philippine Island and Indonesia. It is also known as the Lenten tree or Tiger Claw. This ornamental, deciduous tree has a smooth bark streaked vertical lines of green, buff, grey, and white. It bears brilliant orange-red flowers after losing its leaves and is one of several types of sword tree grown in Bermuda; they all have spiny stems and compound leaves made up of three leaflets. The scientific name comes from The Greek erythro for red.

SKYFLOWER
$10 The Skyflower, Thunbergia grandiflora, is also known as the Trumpet Vine, The Clock Vine and Bengal Trumpet Vine, The Clock Vine and Bengal Trumpet, and belongs to the Acanthaceae (Acanthus) family. White Sunflower, Thunbergia grandiflora var, alba,, a woody, twining evergreen vine, is a rampant grower and produces lots of flowers. Native to India and naturalized in the tropics, White Skyflower was introduced to Bermuda and is becoming popular in gardens – like the Blue Skyflower, which is grown throughout the island and is happy hanging down over a wall or growing over a fence or a trellis. Skyflower is name for Karl P. Thunberg, a Swedish botanist and traveler in the late 1700s and early 1800s; Grandiflora, not surprisingly, means large flower.

The next stamp for release will be Bermuda Flora Booklets: Bermuda roses and Lefroy Botanicals and the proposed release date is October 16, 2014.

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Category: All, Environment

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