Issue date: 05 Jul, 2006
We issue the third cheque book style of stamps devoted to Flora and Fauna on this occasion depicting the iris and the greenfinch with face values of 0,41 € and 0,29 €.
The Iris is a herbaceous plant belonging to the family of the Iridaceous. It is widely distributed throughout the north temperate zone. Their habitats are varied, ranging from cold regions into the grassy slopes, meadowlands, stream banks and deserts of Europe, the Middle East and northern, Africa, Asia and across North America. They are perennial herbs, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises), or, in drier climates, from bulbs (bulbous irises). They have long, erect, flowering stems, which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3-10 basal, sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps. The bulbous species have cylindrical basal leaves.
The inflorescences are fan-shaped and contain one or more symmetrical, six-lobed, slightly fragrant flowers. These grow on a pedicel or lack a footstalk. The three sepals are spreading or droop downwards. They expand from their narrow base into a broader limb, often adorned with lines or dots. The three, petals stand upright, partly behind the sepal bases. Some smaller iris species have all six lobes pointing straight outwards. The sepals and the petals differ from each other. They are united at their base into a floral tube that lies above the ovary. The styles divide towards the apex into petaloid branches.
The greenfinch or Carduelis chloris with its twittering and wheezing song, and flash of yellow and green as it flies, is a truly colourful character. Nesting in a garden conifer, or feasting on black sunflower seeds, it is a popular garden visitor, able to take advantage of food in town and city gardens at a time when intensive agriculture has deprived it of many weed seeds in the countryside. It lives in woodland edges, tall hedges, conifer plantations, orchards, churchyards, parka and gardens - anywhere with tall, fairly dense trees and plenty of seeds and insects. Parks and gardens with evergreen shrubs and a ready supply of birdtable food make them common in towns and villages. It is a common countryside bird found in woods and hedges, but mostly found close to man on farmland and in parks, town and village gardens and orchards. Only absent from upland areas without trees and bushes.
The stamps that make up this Fauna and Flora issue are set up in a cheque book style of 100 self adhesive stamps, printed in offset and with an unlimited print run.
Rate A - €0.75. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, up to 20 g.
Rate A2 - €0.85. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, between 20 g and 50 g.
Rate B - €1.65. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to Europe (including Greenland), up to 20 g.
Rate C - €1.75. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the rest of the world (except USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand), up to 20 g.
Rate D - €2.10. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, up to 20 g.