FDC from Taiwan／FDC du Taiwan

Flowers Postage Stamps (II)／
Timbres de Fleurs (II)




Having issued the first set of definitive stamps on flowers on March 12, 2009, Chunghwa Post is going to follow up with a second set, featuring Calliandra emarginata, Bombax ceiba, Delonix regia, and Spathodea campanulata. This set of stamps was organized by Dr. Heng-piao Chin, the former director-general of the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan, and Dr. Ting-Fang Hsieh, director of the Floriculture Research Center, Agricultural Research Institute, Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan. The stamps were painted by Mr. Hung-tu Ko, and printed by

Central Engraving and Printing Plant in color deep-etch offset. The set of four stamps will be released on October 14, 2009. Details of these stamps are as follows:

1. Calliandra emarginata (NT$1.00): Calliandra emarginata, or powder puff, is a semi-deciduous shrub

of the Fabaceae family. Leaves are bipinnately compound, with oval lanceolate leaflets. The leaflets fold together at night and unfold during the day. The inflorescence is axillary and capitulum. The corolla is semicircular, with dense long filaments, resembling a powder puff. It is a very good ornamental specimen.

2. Bombax ceiba (NT$2.50): Bombax ceiba, commonly known as cotton tree, is a deciduous tree of the Bombacaceae family. Leaves are palmately compound. Flowers are orange or red, with five petals. The calyx is cup-shaped. It produces a capsule which, when ripe, will burst open and disperse seeds that are covered thickly with cotton-like fibers. The tree has a masculine shape and looks different in all four seasons. One of its salient features is that it blooms before it leafs out.

3. Delonix regia (NT$10.00): Delonix regia—which is commonly known as royal poinciana, flamboyant, or flame of the forest—is a deciduous tree of the Leguminosae family. Most of them have buttress roots. The tree has an umbrella-shaped crown. Leaves are opposite and bipinnately compound. Each of its flowers, which are arranged in terminal racemes, has five petals, which are bright red with a touch of yellow, and its filaments are slender and red. Because the tree blooms in June, it is often used to symbolize graduation. The royal poinciana is a large tree and mainly used for firewood, or as an ornamental or street tree.

4. Spathodea campanulata (NT$32.00): Spathodea campanulata, or fountain tree, is a deciduous tree of the Bignoniaceae family. Leaves are opposite and pinnately compound, with oval leaflets. The inflorescence is in the form of a terminal panicle, with the outer buds blooming first. The flowers are orange scarlet, resembling flames on the crown of the tree. The fountain tree loves heat and sun light. It is commonly grown as a street tree and garden specimen.

NOTE: This FDC send from Taipei, TAIWAN to Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh(NKR), via Yerevan, ARMENIA at 29.10.09-12 (postmark:bureau d'echange erevan, ARMENIA (office of exchange, Yerevan, ARMENIA). It arrived Stepanakert at 04.11.2009.