Front:
MIAMI,
FL
20c
1984
33152
Wild pink Arethusa bulbosa
Krestiy Rosenbeng
Back:
As the devastating Ice Age slowly crept over the world's
continents, a lovely flowering plant ... known today
as the Wild Pink Orchid . . . survived just beyond reach
of the icy cold. Blooming in the warm Carolina Hills,
this orchid awaited the end of the Ice Age and then
quickly expanded throughout the Eastern United States
and Canada. Today, the Wild Pink can be found thriving
in the nurtured protection of sphagnum bogs, wet turfy
meadows, open swamps, and along the fertile flats of
rivers. The lovely orchid has been found as far south as
Louisiana and as far north as Newfoundland and Nova
Scotia. Interestingly, the orchid received its scientific
name – Arethusa – from a mythical river nymph of
classical literature. Regardless of its origins, this lovely
orchid stands today as one of the most breathtakingly
beautiful flowers in existence ... setting high on an
elegant, narrow stock, with its beautifully colored flower
held erect by the rigid scape. To celebrate the dazzling
beauty of the Wild Pink Orchid, the United States Postal
Service issued the stamp that is featured on the front of
this Maximum Card.
No. 84-15
©1984 The Maximum Card Collection
A Division of Unicover Corporation · Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007
Original painting by Kristin Rosenberg.
