LAST MONTH, the United States Postal Service introduced 10 new stamps that are sure to be a hit with plant lovers and outdoorsy people everywhere. The booklet features close-ups of orchid flowers and
is the result of a lengthy process involving a slew of experts. It all started with an idea to showcase everyday phalaenopsis hybrids but soon morphed into a pictorial catalog of exotic wild orchids.

Initially, a graphic design team contacted native plant photographer and author, Jim Fowler, who directed them to view his thousands of orchid images on the photo sharing platform, Flickr. Mr. Fowler regularly travels the US and Canada taking pictures of orchid species, many of which are rare and endangered. He states, “As an orchidphile, I am always on the lookout for orchids growing in the roadside ditches and in the swamps and woodlands.” He has written two books on the native orchids of North and South Carolina.

With over 250 native orchids in the US, it was a daunting job to narrow down the choices for the project. As art director for the stamp project, Ethel Kessler wanted to “showcase a variety of different color, shapes and sizes of flowers as well as represent the different growing regions where orchids can be found.” In addition, she favored images that provided native foliage in the background. Ms. Kessler has designed hundreds of stamps for the USPS and is best known for her 1998 Breast Cancer Awareness stamp that raised over $70M for breast cancer research.

The public may recognize some of the flowers on the stamps, particularly the lady’s slippers with their distinctive pouches. The green-and-white Cypripedium californicum from the West Coast and the  hite-and-magenta Cypripedium reginae from the East Coast are readily identifiable as orchids. On the
other end of the spectrum is the relatively obscure Triphora trianthophoros, or “three-birds orchid.” Its whereabouts are not widely known or easily accessible and the tiny blooms only last a matter of hours.

Once the preliminary design of the stamps was complete, it had to be approved by the 12-member USPS Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC). The group evaluates potential subjects that celebrate the American experience and reports its findings to the Postmaster General for a final decision. Naturally, the wild orchid designs flew through the committee.

Nowadays, first class stamps no longer have a denomination on them and, instead, are printed with “Forever” which means that the public can buy them at the current rate of $11.00 for a booklet
of 20 (or 55¢ ea) and they will remain valid even if there is a price increase in the future. Wild Orchids Forever has a second meaning that is not lost on plant people. Over half of our native orchids are threatened by habitat loss and other environmental factors and these stamps help to bring awareness to the plight.

For all the visual glory of the orchid stamps, there were some missed opportunities. First and foremost, none of the individual stamps are labeled with any botanical identification so the viewer is left to wonder what is being shown. This omission is consistent with recent USPS floral stamp issues such as lilies and garden flowers but wild orchids require special treatment because the public is largely not familiar with them. Any nomenclature lettering would have to be small but, without it, the educational value is largely lost. 

Susan Wedegaertner, American Orchid Society President
Jakki Krage Strako, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, USPS
Dr. Lawrence Zettler, Director of the Orchid Recovery Program, Illinois College
Jim Fowler, Nature Photographer and Author.