The postage stamp issue “Flowers of the Thorns” presents flower species found in Romania, which combine the beauty of flowers with the armour of thorns.
The stamp with the face value of 4.70 lei reproduces the image of the Dipsacus fullonum plant, known by the common name of wild teasel. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it is known in the Americas, Southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It is a vigorous plant, with a tall stem of 50 - 200 cm, with edges and spiny. The common receptacle is a cylindrical - conical arrangement which can reach a length of 10 cm and contains numerous tubular flowers of lavender color.
The stamp with the face value of 5.00 lei reproduces the image of Centaurea solstitialis, an annual plant of the Asteraceae family, native to the Mediterranean Basin. During the vegetative stage, it forms a rosette of non-spiny leaves, 5 - 20 cm in diameter, and as summer approaches it produces a tall stalk of 10 - 100 cm. As the name suggests, it blooms in late summer, from after the midsummer solstice to early autumn. The flowers are bright yellow, oblong globular and show spiny long and branched appendages, on the base.
The stamp with the face value of 6.00 lei reproduces the image of the Echinops ruthenicus plant. This species is part of the sunflower family, the Asteraceae family. Echinops ruthenicus is a perennial plant which grows up to a height of 70 cm, has leathery leaves, deeply serrated and thorny. In the late summer it produces globular flowers, of 3 - 4.5 cm in diameter and a lively blue colour, which are easily noticeable on the sunny hills of our country. It is native in the Eastern Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea, South-West Asia and Siberia.
The stamp with the face value of 8.10 lei reproduces the image of the Ononis spinosa plant, that is commonly known as spiny rest-harrow. It belongs to the Fabaceae family and is a small bush, 30 - 60 cm tall, with very spiny twigs on the stem. The leaves are trifoliate at the bottom of the stem, and the flowers are pink. The plant is common in Europe, the Caucasus and Asia Minor.
