Thursday, 1 June 2023

2848) Peony, The National Flower of Romania: Romfilatelia (Romanian Post) has issued a stamp set of four Peony variants of 2.10 Lei, 2.30 Lei, 2.90 Lei, 4.30 Lei and a Miniature Sheet (MS) of 34 Lei: Date of Stamp set issue: 19.05.2023:

2848) Peony, The National Flower of Romania: Romfilatelia (Romanian Post) has issued a stamp set of four Peony variants of 2.10 Lei, 2.30 Lei, 2.90 Lei, 4.30 Lei and a Miniature Sheet (MS) of 34 Lei: Date of Stamp set issue: 19.05.2023:

About Peony, The National Flower of Romania:

The Peony (or Paeony) is a flowering plant in the genus Paeonia the only genus in the family. 

Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. The number of species that can be distinguished, ranging from 25 to 40, although the current consensus is 33 known species. 

Most are herbaceous perennial plants 0.25–1 metre (1–3 ft) tall, but some are woody shrubs 0.25–3.5 metres (1–11 ft) tall. 

They have compound, deeply lobed leaves and large, often fragrant flowers, in colors ranging from purple and pink to red, white or yellow, in late spring and early summer. The flowers have a short blooming season, usually only 7–10 days.

Peonies are popular garden plants in temperate regions. Herbaceous peonies are also sold as cut flowers on a large scale, although generally only available in late spring and early summer.

Peony - the National Flower of Romania:

Romfilatelia has released postage stamps on 19.05.2023, titled - "Peony, the National Flower of Romania”, which is a theme of interest for collectors, whch also promotes the country’s floral symbol in the category of elements of national identity.

There is almost no park or garden in Romania where one does not find it, few species can still “boast” such a popularity. 

The Peony stands for the floral emblem of Romania, which, following the initiative of the Faculty of Horticulture of USAMV (University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine) of Bucharest, on October 26th, 2022, became the Law no. 285/2022, through which the peony flower was officially declared the national flower of Romania.

The Stamp Set:

Stamp 1

Peony has been illustrated on the stamp with the face value of Lei 2.10.  It is a species native to central, southern and western Europe.

The plant forms a dense bush with a height and diameter of 40-60 cm. The leaves are large, pinnately sectioned with lanceolate leaflets. The flowers are 10-12 cm in diameter, unscented, single or double, coloured in various shades of red or pink. 

The blooming: May, beginning of June.

Stamp 2:

Peony (Paeonia triternata Pall.) depicted on the stamp with the face value of Lei 2.30

Spread in the country: Gorun Plateau, on sunny slopes, sparse forests, in Mehedinți county (Vârciorova, on Ciocanu Mountain) and Buzău county (Salcia on Plaiul Sărății, Ciolanu Monastery, on Poiana Rotunda Hill). 

Leaves 2-3 times pinnately sectioned, with broader segments, the segments subrounded, with wavy margins, pink flowers with yellow stamens. 

The blooming: May-June.

Stamp 3:

Forest peony (Paeonia peregrina Mill.) represented on the stamp with the face value of 2,90 Lei. 

Synonyms: Romanian peony, peony, ruje, ruje-de-Rusalii, rujioară, mountain peony, smirdar. 

Country distribution: steppe area of oak forests, glades, forest edges. The plant has 2-3 times pinnately sectioned leaves with + lanceolate segments, red petalled flowers with red staminal filaments and flowering in May-June. 

It is a plant protected by law: it must not be destroyed or collected. "Do not destroy the world’s corolla of wonders” (Lucian Blaga).

Stamp 4:

Common or herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall., synonym P. albiflora Pall.) depicted on the stamp with the face value of Lei 4.30 is native to Asia and has hundreds of cultivars. 

The epithet lactiflora means "with white milk flowers”. 

The plant is 60-100 cm in height and diameter. The stems are branched in the upper third. The leaves are pinnately sectioned with lanceolate leaflets. 

The flowers are large, single or double, fragrant, coloured in various shades of pink, red or white, blooming in May-June and some cultivars even in July. The roots of the plant have been used for over 1000 years in Asian medicine.

Steppe peony (Paeonia tenuifolia L.) illustrated on the imperforated souvenir sheet of the issue having the stamp with the face value of Lei 34

Synonyms: babaruje, bojorojii, roșioară, ruja-buja; field peony, peony. 

The species is also known as “Fernleaf” peony. The plant was first described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linné. 

Country distribution: steppe area of oak forests in sunny meadows. The plant has 2-3 times pinnately-sectioned leaves with linear segments, flowers with red petals and yellow stamens. 

The blooming: April - May.

The First Day Cover (FDC) shows the Peony Flower in a field at lower bottom. The FDC is titled - "Bujorul, floarea nationala a Romaniei" (meaning "Peony - the National Flower of Romania").

The special Cancellation postmark/handstamp is of Bucharest Post Office and the date of cancellation is - "19.05.2023".

Stamp Blocks (sets of four stamps) of the four variants.

A Presentation Pack (PP)

Four Maxi Cards of the four variants. 

A Maxi Card has all three elements - the picture, the stamp and the cancellation on the same face/side.

Four Full Sheets (FS) of the four variants, bearing 32 stamps each.

Technical details:

Issue Date: 19.05.2023

Designer: Mihail VămăȘescu, Diana Baltag (FDC drawing)

Process: offset, in 4 colours, paper for stamps, gummed, produced by Tullis Russel (UK origin), purchased by the Stamp Factory; weight: 112 ± 4% g/m2

Colours: 4 Colours (CMYK)

Size(s):

Stamp size: 48.00 mm × 33.00 mm, 

Mini sheet size: 119.00 mm × 108.00 mm,

Imperforated souvenir sheet size: 84.00 mm x 75.00 mm

Stamp Values: 2.10 Lei, 2.30 Lei, 2.90 Lei, 4.30 Lei




Links to Posts on "European Year of Rail":


Links to some posts on Romanian currency and philately on this Blog:






















Fantasies and Flora Stamp Series, Romania:


4 comments:

  1. Rajan Trikha has commented:
    "Wonderful post👍"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Santosh Khanna has commented:
    "Thank you for sharing this! A VERY interesting and informative post".

    ReplyDelete