This stamp booklet celebrates the beauty of cacti, flowering perennial succulents that are abundant in the Southwest and other parts of the world. Most cacti grow very slowly and are tough, adaptable and low maintenance.
Cactus flowers are often large and flamboyant, with colors of white, red, pink, orange or yellow. Some flowers are also richly scented, and the nectar and colors attract pollinators such as bats, bees and birds.
These stamps celebrate the beauty of the cactus flower; each stamp features a photograph of one of these ten cacti flowers:
Parodia microsperma is an interesting species. Within the species there are numerous varieties and forms present. Size, colour, flower and spines characteristic can vary considerably from one plant to the next. As the species name “microsperma” suggests, the one commonality amongst all the different forms and varieties is that they all have very tiny seeds that are about 0.4mm long. Parodia microsperma needs regular water in summer but keep it rather dry in winter as it tends to lose its roots in winter if kept wet and cold. It can tolerate light frost at -1°C and if kept dry at -9°C.
