Protected native plants - Germany / German Democratic Republic 1970 - 30 Pfennig

Protected plants The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the German Democratic Republic publishes six multicolored special postal stamps with images of protected plants. Orchis militaris L. (30 pfennig value) The beautiful helmet orchid from the group of submediterranean orchids (family Orchidaceae) is characterized by a helmet-like, pale pink-colored upper part of the flower and by the slender tips of the flower lower lip. Like other southern European orchids, whose distribution in Central Europe is low, the species settles in semi-arid grasslands, bushes, and drier meadows; she prefers limestone and marl soils. The plant is more or less rare in all districts of the GDR, most localities are in the districts of Gera, Halle and Frankfurt (Oder). In the districts of Dresden and Karl Marx City, the species does not occur. Like all orchids the helmet orchid possesses dusty seeds and a mycorrhiza root (fungal symbiosis).