There were succulent stamps in my stocking!

My Christmas stocking that is.

On December 11, 1981 in Tucson, AZ, the USPS issued this se-tenant (se-ten•ant; a block of commemorative stamps printed together on the same sheet but differing in design, color, value, or overprint) of four stamps depicting U.S. desert plants. The stamps were designed by Frank Waslick. The dealer who sold Santa Andrew the succulent stamps also sent along these ‘11th International Botanical Congress’ stamps as freebies… Only 6 cents, I wonder when stamps were that cheap? Research time…

“On August 23, 1969, the U.S. Post Office released a set of four stamps to mark the meeting of the 11th International Botanical Congress in Seattle, Washington. Portrayed on the 6-cent stamps were famous plants associated with the four regions of the country.

Northwest: Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii
Northeast: Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium reginae
Southwest: Ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens
Southeast: Franklinia, Fanklinia alatamaha

First day of issue ceremonies were held in Seattle on the day prior to the opening of the Botanical Congress. The Franklinia, now extinct in the wild, was once native to Georgia.” (source) "The International Botanical Congress (IBC) is an international meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) and held every six years, with the location rotating between different continents. The IBC has the power to alter the ICN (International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants), which was renamed from the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) at the XVIII IBC. Formally the power resides with the Plenary Session; in practice this approves the decisions of the Nomenclature Section. The Nomenclature Section meets before the actual Congress and deals with all proposals to modify the Code: this includes ratifying recommendations from sub-committees on conservation. To reduce the risk of a hasty decision the Nomenclature Section adopts a 60% majority requirement for any change not already recommended by a committee." (source)

Good to know they have safe guards in place against hasty decisions isn't it?...

When I went looking to learn what went on at this International Botanical Congress in Seattle I stumbled on the photo below (source) taken during a field trip of the Seattle Botanical Congress goers to Oregon. They look like a fun bunch don’t they? I wonder where they visited; it looks more like Eastern Oregon than Western. By the way I’m not a stamp collector...there was a theme running through many of the holiday gifts from my husband this year, images of my favorite plants. I've got a several vintage photograph reproductions and a couple of new art prints to get framed. I see a great succulent wall grouping in my future!

Oh and this was going to be a simple Wordless Wednesday post with just images of the stamps, but I’ve never been any good at the wordless thing. I hope some of you found this interesting!