I am participating in the April AtoZ Blogging challenge and my theme is Plants featured on Indian Stamps. This is my eight attempt at the AtoZ and the focus is on plants.
My theme is inspired by an online talk by Daniel L Nikrent of Cornell University, USA held by Maharashtra Vriksha Samvardhini about Parasitic Flowering Plants featured on Stamps.
I am not a stamp collector nor a fan of stamps. Hence almost all my posts are purely based on research on the internet. I have tried to cross check the info before posting here. Please do share correct info and links to the same in case of discrepancy.
India Post has a very strong network reaching deep deep into the interiors of the country and I depended on it for news from home when we were posted in far away places. In this age of smartphones, Internet, how many of us really write letters - snail mail as they are now called? Despite this , I find that new stamps are being issued and we have stamps on diverse topics including Armed Forces, Films, Personalities, Wildlife, Handlooms, Handicrafts and so on.. It is amazing!
Guggulu or Comminphora wightti is a native shrub of the Burseraceae family. The plant is armed, its bark is thin and papery and leave may be trifoliate or simple. Its flowers are red to pink and the fruit turns red when ripe. Guggul branches produce a gum-resin that is used in medicines, perfumes and incense.
In 2003, India Post has released a commemorative postage stamp on Guggulu, of a denomination of 5INR.
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| Post of India, GODL-India <https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Gazette_Notification_OGDL.pdf>, via Wikimedia Commons |
We also have a stamp of the beautiful Gloriosa superba a native climber of the Liliaceae family. This showy flower has an amazing structure. It has six wavy tepals that maybe orange red with a yellow base and six stamens that arch outwards. It is found in the NE India, western ghats and the Himalayas. Once seen, never forgotten thats all I can say about the Gloriosa superba!
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| By Macvivo at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3599089 |
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| Post of India, GODL-India <https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Gazette_Notification_OGDL.pdf>, via Wikimedia Commons |
The India Postage Stamps website has a complete catalogue of stamps. Please click the link to see many many wonderful stamps.
Colnect is a comprehensive portal for Stamp collectors. It gives detailed information about every listed stamp. Click here for detailed info about Stamps - what is a stamp, types, formats, water marks, perforations and much more.
Do visit tomorrow for some more beautiful plants on stamps.Till then, Take Care and Stay Happy!
6 comments:
Hi Archana.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
I love your theme--how wonderful to showcase flora and fauna through stamps. What a stunner Glorisa Superba is.
I know Gloriosa but never heard of guggulu - such a cute name
You are like my Botany teacher now ;)
Good day - Dropping by from A to Z - https://afshan-shaik.blogspot.com/
I have to say, that stamp doesn't make the guggulu (I love that word!) look very appealing!
@Arti Thank you so much! :-)
@Afshan Hehe... I am still learning! But thank you for your kind words! :-)
@Lisa hmm yes.. but as someone said, yummy looking things are often not healthy.. maybe the reverse holds true here?? ;-)
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