3 Miniature Sheets consisting of 12 nos. of commemorative postage stamps on the Asian Pacific Postal Union Congress, New Delhi :

Issued by India

Issued on Sep 3, 2013

Issued for : Department of Posts pledges its support to the cause of conserving India’s rich biodiversity by issuing these Commemorative Postage Stamps on Wild Flowers of India.

Credits :
Photographs and Text : Prakash Dubey(Padma Shri)
Miniature Sheet / Sheetlet / FDC & Cancellation : Alka Sharma
Technical Inputs : Director, CSIR–NBRI, Lucknow

Type : Miniature Sheets, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise each (12 stamps)

Sheetlet : 0.81 Million

No. of Miniature Sheet : 3

Miniature Sheet Printed : 0.81 Million each

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• India has a rich and varied heritage of plant diversity exhibiting a wide spectrum from tropical rain-forests to alpine vegetation and from temperate forests to the coastal wetlands. The Flora of India is one of the richest in the world due to its diverse climatic regimes and topology. There is virtually no area in India without a particular treasure or species of special beauty or interest.
• India Post is paying a tribute to the pristine beauty of twelve of its rare and beautiful wild flowers by issuing a sheetlet of stamps and three miniature sheets.
• Dibang Chirita :
  • Botanical name : Chirita dibangensis
  • Family : Gesneriaceae (Gloxinte family)
  • Dibang Chirita is a species named after Dibang valley in Arunachal Pradesh, where it is found. It is an erect herb. Flowers arise singly in leaf axis. They are bluish white outside with two yellow lines on the lower parts of the palate and in throat.
• Kashmir Mallow :
  • Botanical name : Lavatera cachemiriana
  • Family : Malvaceae (Mallow family)
  • Kashmir Mallow is a beautiful plant species, endemic to Kashmir in Western Himalayas. It is a bush of ivy shaped leaves. A single funnel shaped flower blooms from midsummer through fall in a clear pink shade. Flowers are borne singly. They are 4-8 cms across, obovate or oblong-obovate.
• Himalayan Mini Sunflower :
  • Botanical name : Cremanthodium ellisii
  • Family : Asteraceae (Sunflower family)
  • Himalayan Mini Sunflower is a perennial herb growing 25-35 cms tall with yellow, sunflower like flowers, 4-7 cms long having dark centres. Flowers are solitary, looking down, with dark disk florets and narrow elliptic yellow coloured ray florets approximately 2.5 cms long. It is found at an altitude of 3,500 – 4,800 metres, from Kashmir to South-East Tibet. Flowering season is from July to September.
• Himalayan Lantern :
  • Botanical name : Agapetes serpens
  • Family : Ericaceae (Rhododendron family)
  • Himalayan Lantern is a beautiful shrub, 40-60 cms tall with arching stems and tiny hanging lantern like flowers. The flowers are bright red, orange or pinkish white, with dark red zig zag bands. Himalayan Lantern is found at an altitude of 1,200 – 3000 metres in North-Eastern Himalayas, particularly in Darjeeling and Sikkim. Flowering season is from May to June.
• Roundleaf Asiabell :
  • Botanical name : Codonopsis rotundifolia
  • Family : Campanulaceae (Bellflower family)
  • Roundleaf Asiabell is a perennial vine, flowers are bell shaped, greenish white veined with purple short lobes, 2-3 x 1.5-2 cms in size. Sepals are elliptic to lanceolate, leaf like, hairy about 2 cms long, pointed to blunt. It is found at an altitude of 1800 – 3600 metres. Flowering season is from July to August.
• Blue Poppy :
  • Botanical name : Meconopsis aculeata
  • Family : Papaveraceae
  • Blue Himalayan Poppy is a rare beautiful herb. Flowers are usually 4-5 petalled measuring 5-11 cms across. The golden yellow stamens contrast well with the deep blue petals. It is found from Uttarakhand to Kashmir at an altitude of 3,000 – 4,500 metres.
• Globe Thistle :
  • Botanical name : Echinops niveus
  • Family : Asteraceae (Sunflower family)
  • Globe Thistle is a sharp spiny herb with a simple stem and dense head flower which is spherical, 6-8 cms across. It is found from Kashmir to Nepal at an altitude of 1,400-1,700 metres.
• Himalayan Iris :
  • Botanical name : Iris kemaonensis
  • Family : Iridaceae
  • Himalayan Iris is found in alpine pastures at elevations of 3000-4000 metres. It is a stunningly beautiful perennial rhizomatous herb with deep lilac to purple flowers, growing 45-50 cms tall. Flowering season is from April to June.
• Himalayan Bellflower :
  • Botanical name : Campanula latifolia L.
  • Family : Campanulaceae (Bellflower family)
  • Himalayan Bellflower is a beautiful perennial herb. It is found in the wild from Kashmir to Nepal. It is a plant having spikes of large, nodding, dark blue – purple, bell shaped flowers. Flowers are 4-5 cms long, borne in a spike at the top of stems. They are found at an altitude of 2,000-3,500 metres.
• Cobra Lily :
  • Botanical name : Arisaema wallachianum
  • Family : Araceae
  • The Cobra Lily derives its name from its hood-like incurved spathe, 7-21 cms long, longitudinally striped in purple or bronze colour. The plant is distributed from Himachal Pradesh to Sikkim at an altitude of 1800 to 4300 metres. Flowering season is from July to September.
• Bladder Campion :
  • Botanical name : Silene vulgaris
  • Family : Caryophyllaceae (Carnation family)
  • Bladder Campion is a perennial herb, with branched stems 30-100 cms tall. It is easily recognized by its few large drooping white to greenish flowers, with deeply lobed petals and its bladder like greenish sepal tube with a network of darker veins. Flowers are 1.5 – 2.5 cms across, usually in lax branched clusters. The sepal is 1.5 cms long, enlarging to 2 cms in fruit, with triangular lobes. Flowering season is from June to August.
• Rhododendron : 
  • Botanical name : Rhododendron arboreum
  • Family : Ericaceae
  • Rhododendron, pink coloured with a bellflower shape, is a native to the Himalayas from Eastern Nepal to Arunachal Pradesh in forests and on rocky hillsides. It grows at an altitude of 2700 – 3700 metres. This evergreen shrub has leaves upto 11 cms long which are white or fawn beneath. Flowering season is from March to June.

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