The red poppy
Date of issue: 8 June 2011
Danish Post issued a set of four stamps featuring four beautiful summer flowers on 8 June 2011. Stamps show red poppy, cranesbill, Masterwort and Siberian poppy.
The red poppy is easily recognised by its scarlet petals, which are loosely attached and fall off easily. Once the leaves have been shed, all that remains is the distinctive, egg-shaped capsule. It contains up to 20,000 seeds, which are spread over a large area when the wind shakes the dry plants.
The optimum germination conditions for the seeds are close to the surface of the soil, so autumn ploughing often brings large numbers of them to the surface after they have been lying dormant for years. The next year, the entire landscape is coloured bright red with a lovely carpet of poppies.
Cranesbill
The cranesbill, or geranium, is a herbaceous perennial often cultivated in Danish gardens and common in the wild. This popular plant is easy to look after and, to the delight of many gardeners, it attracts butterflies. Cranesbill takes its name from the shape of its pointed fruit. The fruit is in five sections and gathered in a long beak that splits into five flaps that curve upward in an explosive movement and eject the seeds.
Masterwort
Masterwort is a charming and slender perennial, and not particularly well known. With its beautiful umbel of star-shaped flowers, this decorative plant looks great in herbaceous borders or as a border plant. Masterwort belongs to the umbelliferae family, and has both edible and poisonous cousins. The benevolent side of the family includes dill and celery, while the malevolent side includes deadly, poisonous plants like cowbane and hemlock, as well as the allergenic giant hogweed.
Siberian poppy
The Siberian poppy is a popular and hardy ornamental plant well suited to herbaceous borders, rockeries and pots. As the name suggests, this species of poppy originates from Siberia. Curiously, it is also known as the Icelandic poppy – which is something of a mystery, as it does not grow in Iceland.
