Trees the Theme as An Post Launches New Fauna & Flora Stamps

6 March 2006

There are four beautifully illustrated stamps in the series, with trees the theme for this year’s popular fauna & flora issue.  Available in four denominations, the stamps feature the Sessile Oak (48c), Yew (60c), Ash (75c) and Strawberry-tree (€1), and are designed by renowned artist Susan Sex, who has specialised in botanical subjects for over ten years.

Crafted using a magnifying visor and sometimes a microscope, the stamps also feature a detailed illustration of each tree’s leaf and seed.  The fauna and flora series has been issued annually since 1978 and has proved to be one of the most popular stamp themes, featuring diverse subjects such as Irish wild animals, butterflies and orchids.

Facts about the trees featured:

• The tallest oak recorded in Ireland is a Sessile Oak at 37m high
• Ireland’s oldest registered tree is a Yew in County Wexford, estimated at 1,000 years old
• Tree-ring evidence suggests that Ash trees can live up to three hundred years
• The Strawberry-tree is now found only in Kerry and West Cork, with one isolated patch near Lough Gill in County Sligo

The stamps are available from Tuesday 7th March from main Post Offices, the Philatelic Shop in the GPO or via www.irishstamps.ie.  They are currently on display in ENFO, the Environmental Information Centre in St. Andrew Street in Dublin.

Susan Sex will be in the GPO’s Philatelic Shop on Tuesday 7th March to sign First Day Covers between 12.30pm and 2.00pm.