Postal stamps: flowers - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 2010 - 410 Euro Cent

The long-term stamp series "Flowers" draws people's attention to the beauty and variety of flowers in gardens and nature in Germany with modern and at the same time timeless motifs. The colorful and atmospheric representations should help to rediscover and enjoy the little pleasures of everyday life that are often barely perceived in our hectic times. The lady's slipper (lat. Cypripedium calceolus) is one of the largest treasures of the local flora. He has become very rare and the popular saying that one can only find him if you do not seek it. The mere fact that the famous Swedish naturalist Carl von Linnaeus (1707-1778) named this plant after the love goddess Aphrodite, who was also known as Kypris, suggests an extraordinary plant. The genus Cypripedium comprises around 40 species worldwide, which occur both in wetlands and in dry forests in the temperate areas of the northern hemisphere, as well as in South Asia and Mexico and belong to the orchid family. The lady's slipper is depending on the growing place 20 to 50 cm high, with broad elliptical, gerieften leaves. As a rule, each stalk carries one to two flowers.